WORK AND PENSIONS

Age: Discrimination

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated relating to age discrimination.

Patrick McFadden: I have been asked to reply.
	BERR has commissioned The Second Fair Treatment at Work Survey recently to look at employees' perceptions of discrimination in the workplace. A report will be available mid-2009. BERR commissioned the Fair Treatment at Work Survey in 2005 and has provided some initial findings on discrimination in the workplace. An Executive Summary was published in March 2007.
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file38386.pdf
	BERR and DWP jointly commissioned the Survey of Employers' Policies and Practices relating to age in 2005. This looked at the extent to which employment policies and practices were in accordance with equality of opportunity with regard to age. The survey was carried out prior to the implementation of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations in 2006. A report was published in March 2006.
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file24984.pdf.
	We intend to carry out a follow-up survey jointly with DWP in 2009. Results will be available in 2010.

Child Support Agency: Expenditure

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost to the public purse of the Child Support Agency was in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08.

Kitty Ussher: The administration of the Child Support agency is a matter for the chef executive. He will write to the right hon. and learned Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the cost to the public purse of the Child Support Agency was in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08.
	The Agency's operating cost for the year ending March 2008 was £563 million and for the previous year ending March 2007 was £520 million.
	The Agency publishes its annual operating costs each year in its Annual Report and Accounts, current and previous copies of which are available in the House of Commons library or online at the following link:
	http://www.csa.gov.uk/en/about/publications-corporate.asp#AnnRep
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Children: Maintenance

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was paid in compensation by the Child Support Agency to  (a) parents with care of one or more children and  (b) non-resident parents in each of the last five years.

Kitty Ussher: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been paid in compensation by the Child Support Agency to (a) parents with care of one or more children and (b) non-resident parents in each of the last five years.
	The Agency operates a discretionary, non-statutory scheme providing financial redress for maladministration and recompense where error or delays have had an adverse effect on clients' lives. Information on the total amount paid in financial redress under this scheme is published each year in the Agency's Annual Report and Accounts, copies of which are held in the House of Commons library or online at the following link:
	http://www.csa.gov.Uk/en/about/publications-corporate.asp#AnnRep
	Information on the total amount paid to redress actual financial loss, provide compensation for delay and consolatory payments are set out in the attached table. The information available relates to the total number and value of payments made, as the Agency does not collate information on the amount paid to either parents with care or non-resident parents.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.
	
		
			  Number and value of payments made by Child Support Agency for financial loss, compensation for delay and consolatory payments 
			   Actual financial loss  Compensation for delay  Consolatory 
			   Number of payments authorised  Total value of payments   (£ million)  Number of payments authorised  Total value of payments   (£ million)  Number of payments authorised  Total value of payments   (£ million) 
			 1998-99 4,300 3.3 1,100 0.3 4,200 0.6 
			 1999-00 3,700 1.8 700 0.3 4,500 0.5 
			 2000-01 5,200 1.9 800 0.2 6,600 0.7 
			 2001-02 6,300 1.6 900 0.2 8,300 0.7 
			 2002-03 5,900 1.3 700 0.2 8,400 0.7 
			 2003-04 4,900 1.4 800 0.1 5,600 0.4 
			 2004-05 7,100 2.4 1,700 0.1 9,000 0.6 
			 2005-06 5,900 3.1 2,100 0.2 9,200 0.6 
			 2006-07 4,700 2.5 1,900 0.4 9,200 0.7 
			 2007-08 4,700 3.4 1,900 0.4 9,300 0.7 
			  Notes: 1. Figures relate to payments made only. It is not possible to identify how many of the payments authorised were for individual clients, or whether the clients were parents with care or non-resident parents. 2. Number of authorised payments rounded to nearest 100. Value of payments rounded to nearest £0.1 million. 3. Figures to 2007-08 show payments awarded in each year for actual financial loss, compensation for delay and consolatory payments. These will include timing differences when reconciling the Annual Report and Accounts.

Children: Maintenance

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what measures he has put in place to facilitate the clearing of arrears in child maintenance owed by absent parents; and if he will make a statement.

Kitty Ussher: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what measures he put in place to facilitate the clearing of arrears in child maintenance owed by absent parents; and if he will make a statement.
	Since April 2006, under its three year Operational Improvement Plan the Agency put in place a number of improvements to support the collection of child maintenance debt, including the contracting out of some debt collection activity to private debt collection agencies and the introduction of more flexible payment methods such as credit and debit cards. We have also increased the number of our people engaged in enforcement activities and have improved the tools and processes allowing them to undertake enforcement work more effectively.
	As a result the Agency is collecting more child maintenance arrears than it has ever done before and in September 2008 collected £14.6 million in maintenance arrears alone, more than twice the average amount collected each month before the introduction of the Operational Improvement Plan. Since March 2008, the Agency has collected £80.3 million in arrears, bringing to almost £297 million the total collected in maintenance arrears alone since April 2006.
	The Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008 strengthens the range of enforcement and debt management powers available to the new Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission. These include;
	Deduction of maintenance payments and/or arrears from bank accounts;
	Removing the need to apply to the court for a Liability Order;
	Recovering arrears from deceased non resident parents' estates;
	Applying to the court for disqualification from holding or obtaining a passport;
	Applying to the court for a curfew.
	The Commission will bring these powers into force as soon as practicable in order to build on the Agency's improvements and will continue to focus on collection of outstanding arrears.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Disability Living Allowance: Hemel Hempstead

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many residents of Hemel Hempstead receive the mobility component of disability living allowance at the  (a) higher and  (b) lower rate.

Jonathan R Shaw: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Disability living allowance—cases in payment by mobility component type: Hemel Hempstead parliamentary constituency February 2008 
			   Cases 
			 Higher rate 1,750 
			 Lower rate 1,090 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and exclude people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital. 3. These figures are published on the DWP website at www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/tabtool.asp  Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study

Housing Benefit

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effects of the Heffernan judgement in the House of Lords on 30 July 2008 on the delivery of local housing allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Kitty Ussher: holding answer 23 October 2008
	Following the judgment in the case of Mr. Heffernan, The Rent Service have revised their guidance to the rent officers on the setting of locality boundaries. As I said to the House on 20 October, I am also considering the implications of the judgment in the context of the current wider review of housing benefit.

National Insurance: Foreigners

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many national insurance number registrations have been granted to non-UK  (a) EU and  (b) non-EU citizens in each quarter since 2004.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 8 October 2008
	The available information is in the following table:
	
		
			  National insurance number registrations to adult overseas nationals entering the United Kingdom by quarter of registration and EU/Non-EU status 
			  Thousand 
			   EU Nationals  Non- EU nationals 
			  2004   
			 January to March 37.68 77.96 
			 April to June 31.93 60.66 
			 July to September 40.82 53.55 
			 October to December 53.43 56.05 
			
			  2005   
			 January to March 71.37 66.94 
			 April to June 80.93 68.91 
			 July to September 95.43 75.81 
			 October to December 90.53 68.09 
			
			  2006   
			 January to March 107.64 75.15 
			 April to June 77.39 56.38 
			 July to September 91.04 60.37 
			 October to December 98.64 65.94 
			
			  2007   
			 January to March 153.18 102.44 
			 April to June 99.41 66.63 
			 July to September 121.38 68.46 
			 October to December 108.29 76.67 
			
			  2008   
			 January to March 110.83 80.93 
			  Notes:  1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and displayed in thousands.  2. There are a small number of registrations where citizens' nationalities are unknown, these are not included.  3. Registration date is derived from the date at which a national insurance number is entered on the National Insurance Recording System.  4. When presenting the EU time series, countries which joined the EU during the time series have been included in the EU for the whole of the time series, to facilitate comparisons over time.  5. The EU time series excludes national insurance numbers registered to UK nationals.  6. The figures do not include any national insurance numbers that may have been issued to young foreign nationals under Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs juvenile registration scheme.   Source:  100 per cent. extract from National Insurance Recording System This information is taken from a table published on the DWP website at: http://83.244.183.180/mgw/final/final/qtr/world/a_stock_r_qtr_c_world_apr08.html

Pension Credit

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the administrative costs have been of managing the pension credit system since its introduction; how much was paid in pension credit in each year; and what the percentage take-up of pension credit by  (a) men and  (b) women was in each year since its introduction.

Rosie Winterton: The following table shows the administrative costs for managing the pension credit system since its inception in October 2003. Please note that due to the launch of pension credit in October 2003, the figures for the financial year 2003-04 are low in comparison to future years; years 2004-06 administrative costs are at their highest due to these years being the peak years for achieving the PSA target; and years 2006-08 represent steady state. The lower costs for 2007-08 represent the impact of the Pension Transformation Programme (PTP) and the introduction of PTP wave 1.
	
		
			  Administrative costs of pension credit 
			  £ million 
			   2003 - 04  2004- 05  2005- 06  2006- 07  2007- 08 
			 Operations cost 108 148 138 — — 
			 Central functions cost — 50 81 — — 
			 Non-staff cost — 14 14 — — 
			 Operations total 108 212 233 167 151 
			 Local service — — — 23 19 
			 Total administrative cost 108 212 233 190 182 
			  Notes: 1. All data taken from ABM except central directorate costs from Pensions Finance Data Warehouse. 2. 2003-04 costs are the operational costs for pension credit only i.e. they exclude central and non-staff costs which are not available. 3. 2004-05 and 2005-06 central functions and non-staff costs pro rated from pension credit share of operations costs. 4. Final 2007-08 outturn total = £404.29 million. 
		
	
	The following table shows the benefit expenditure for pension credit every year since its inception in October 2003.
	
		
			  £ 
			  Pension credit  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Guaranteed Credit 2,149,436,784.43 5,021,469,725.15 5,373,055,921.09 5,678,257,755.67 6,024,504,180.52 
			 Savings Credits 321,405,374.33 952,231,720.09 1,052,473,111.63 1,148,677,229.05 1,221,796,985.76 
			 Out of Hours Service -65.00 -3,569.62 -70.00 — -100.00 
			 LPS — — 16,049,910.87 85,339,674.90 147,610,977.68 
			 Total 2,470,842,093.76 5,973,697,875.62 6,441,578,873.59 6,912,274,659.62 7,393,912,043.96 
			  Source: Accounting, Shared Services, Norcross. 
		
	
	The percentage of take-up for pension credit by male/female gender for every quarter since October 2003 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Pension credit case load, number of claimants and percentage by gender of claimant 
			Percentage of case load 
			   Total case load claimants (Thousand)  Female  Male 
			 November 2003 2,084.70 64.9 35.1 
			 February 2004 2,282.29 64.4 35.6 
			 May 2004 2,490.76 64.0 36.0 
			 August 2004 2,592.59 63.8 36.2 
			 November 2004 2,629.58 63.7 36.3 
			 February 2005 2,654.67 63.6 36.4 
			 May 2005 2,682.73 63.4 36.6 
			 August 2005 2,696.66 63.3 36.7 
			 November 2005 2,708.05 63.1 36.9 
			 February 2006 2,709.22 63.0 37.0 
			 May 2006 2,717.39 62.9 37.1 
			 August 2006 2,728.15 62.8 37.2 
			 November 2006 2,738.56 62.7 37.3 
			 February 2007 2,730.94 62.5 37.5 
			 May 2007 2,733.50 62.4 37.6 
			 August 2007 2,735.72 62.3 37.7 
			 November 2007 2,734.54 62.2 37.8 
			 February 2008 2,723.14 62.1 37.9 
			  Source: DWP Information Directorate Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Pensioners: Poverty

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent steps he has taken to tackle pensioner poverty; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Tackling pensioner poverty remains one of this Government's key priorities.
	The Government have introduced a number of measures to help older people out of poverty. In 1997, the poorest pensioners lived on around £69 a week, today pension credit ensures that no pensioner needs to live on less than £124.05 a week (£189.35 for a couple). We have successively raised the standard minimum guarantee in pension credit at least in line with earnings in every year since its introduction, and the value of the safety-net we provide for the poorest pensioners has increased by over a third in real terms since 1997.
	We have made good progress in tackling pensioner poverty. Between 1998-99 and 2006-07 the number of pensioners in low income in the UK has fallen from 2.9 million to 2.1 million (measured by 60 per cent. of contemporary median income after housing costs.)
	Our commitments in the Pensions Act 2007 to continue to uprate the pension credit standard minimum guarantee at least in line with earnings over the long term, and to reintroduce the earnings link to basic state pension from 2012, or by the end of the next Parliament, will help secure the gains we have made into the future.
	We are striving to ensure that older people are aware of, and take up their entitlements through initiatives such as: using sophisticated data matching to identify those who may be entitled to, but not currently receiving, benefits; home visits for vulnerable customers; targeted local marketing and media campaigns; a simple and straightforward claim process and ever closer working with partner organisations.
	In addition to pension credit we have increased winter fuel payments to £200 for households with someone aged 60-79, and £300 for those with someone aged 80 or over. We will be making an additional payment for winter 2008-09 of £50 for households with someone aged 60 to 79 and £100 for those with someone aged 80 or over. Since 1997, we have also introduced free eye-tests, free off-peak bus travel for pensioners and free television licences for those aged over 75.

Pensions

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent steps the Government have taken to encourage people to pay into pension schemes.

Rosie Winterton: The Pensions Bill, which is currently progressing through Parliament, will bring in arrangements to encourage individuals to make provisions for their own retirement through the introduction of automatic enrolment. In addition, for the first time, employers will also be required to contribute to workers' pensions.
	We estimate that the Bill's provisions will result in between 6 and 9 million people newly saving in a workplace pension—or saving more—as a result, thus transforming the savings culture in the UK.

Post Office Card Account

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library the tender documentation setting out the criteria by which the contract to replace the Post Office Card Account was awarded including  (a) specifications,  (b) invitation to tender or negotiate and  (c) descriptive documentation; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 29 October 2008
	The tender process for the contract for the Post Office card account successor is still under way and a decision on the outcome is yet to be made.

Winter Fuel Payments

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of  (a) the number of cold weather payments to be made in 2008-09 and  (b) the cost of the payments.

Kitty Ussher: The information is not available.
	The cost of cold weather payments for 2008-09 cannot be estimated because it is dependent on the severity of the winter. However, a notional figure of £24 million will be included in the forecasts for the Social Fund, provided to HM Treasury.

Winter Fuel Payments

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many pensioners aged 60 years and over claimed the annual £250 winter fuel payment in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since its inception;
	(2)  how many pensioners aged 80 years and over claimed the annual £400 Winter Fuel Payment in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) the UK in each year since its inception.

Rosie Winterton: This winter we are making an additional payment with the winter fuel payment making the payment £250 and £400 for winter 2008-09.
	For information on the number of payments made from 1999-2000 to 2006-07 I refer my hon. Friend to the written answer I gave him on 26 February 2008,  Official Report, columns 1387-388. Figures for winter 2007-08 are not yet available.

SCOTLAND

Departmental Information Officers

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many press and communications officers are employed by his Department.

Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office employs two press officers, a chief press officer based in Edinburgh and a press officer based in London.

Departmental Older Workers

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people aged over  (a) 55 and  (b) 60 years were recruited by his Department in 2007-08; and what percentage in each case this was of the number of new recruits.

Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office does not directly recruit staff; all staff are seconded from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice, as necessary. The Office does not hold personnel records that would allow age to be determined.

Departmental Pay

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much Ministers in his Department claimed in expenses in each of the last three years.

Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office makes direct payments to Ministers only where they have personally incurred costs in relation to their Office. Payments have been made as follows:
	
		
			   Payments made to Ministers (£) 
			 2005-06 125.00 
			 2006-07 463.46 
			 2007-08 85.40

Departmental Security

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many security passes have been reported  (a) lost and  (b) stolen by staff in his Department in each year since 2001.

Ann McKechin: Details of passes lost or stolen are available only from January 2003; the following passes were lost or stolen:
	
		
			   Lost  Stolen 
			 2002-03(1, 2) 1 0 
			 2003-04(1) 3 1 
			 2004-05 2 0 
			 2005-06 1 0 
			 2006-07 1 0 
			 2007-08 1 0 
			 (1 )These figures include passes lost by, or stolen from, staff in the Office of the Advocate General. (2) Part year only.

Departmental Training

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much his Department spent on external training courses for departmental staff in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006,  (c) 2007 and  (d) 2008; and which external organisations were paid by the Department to provide such courses in each year.

Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office does not organise in-house courses provided by outside organisations; where staff need additional training, pre-existing courses are sourced and staff attend these. Also, all staff are on secondment from the Scottish Executive or the Ministry of Justice and have full access to the in-house courses organised by these Departments. The Office spent the following on external training:
	
		
			   Spend on external training (£) 
			 2004-05 11,123 
			 2005-06 13,370 
			 2006-07 13,969 
			 2007-08 14,041 
		
	
	Payments, which include hiring of rooms, were made to
	 2004-05
	British Red Cross
	British Retail Consortium
	British Wind Energy
	CBI Scotland
	CMPS
	David Hume Institute
	Holyrood Communications
	Marketforce Communications Ltd
	Mekon Ltd.
	Penna Plc
	QMW Public Policy Seminars
	SCDI
	Shelter
	University of Edinburgh
	University of Oxford
	University of Wales
	Waterfront
	 2005-06
	British Red Cross
	Citizens Advice Scotland
	CMPS
	DRCC Ltd.
	Emap Communications
	ESSA Finance
	Holyrood Communications
	MacKay Hannah
	Marketforce Communications Ltd.
	National School of Government
	Neil Stewart Associates
	Penna Plc
	SCDI
	Scottish Renewables
	The British Wind Energy Association
	The Institute for Fiscal Studies
	Metropolitan Police
	The Royal Terrace Hotel
	University of Edinburgh
	Waterfront
	 2006-07
	Citizens Advice Scotland
	Essex Ambulance Service NHS Trust
	Historic Scotland
	Holyrood Communications
	Management Development Partnership
	Marketforce Communications Ltd
	Metropolitan Police
	National School of Government
	Novotel
	Penna Plc
	PSCA International
	Scottish Renewables
	The Association of Electoral Administrators
	David Hume Institute
	Unicom Seminars Ltd.
	University College London
	University of Edinburgh
	 2007-08
	British Red Cross
	City and Islington College
	David Hume Institute
	GovNet Communications
	Hemsley Fraser
	Holyrood Communications
	Industrial and Power Association
	Jogscotland
	Metropolitan Police
	Napier University
	National School of Government
	Needham
	Penna Plc
	Scottish Pre-Retirement Council, The
	Scottish Refugee Council
	University College London
	University of Edinburgh

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Cromwell Green Entrance

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 22 July 2008,  Official Report, columns 983-84W, on Cromwell Green, what action has been taken to recover budget overruns from the appointed consultants; what sums have or are likely to be recovered; who the members of the Project Advisory Board were; who authorised the extension of the project to cover the Grand Committee Room roof, Westminster Hall south steps and floor repairs; on what basis that extension was authorised; and who was in overall charge of the project.

Nick Harvey: The House Administration is undertaking a liability review and assessment that will determine the full extent of any monies to be recovered from consultants. Once assessed, if required, negotiations for repayment will occur. Sums have been retained against some consultants, but the full extent of any recovery will not be known until the liability assessment and negotiations are finalised.
	The Project Advisory Board included various members of staff from both Houses of Parliament led (a) from inception in September 2004, through design and tender of the works by the then Director of Parliamentary Estates and (b) from contractor appointment through construction until summer 2007 by the then Serjeant at Arms. At that stage, in the light of delays and construction problems, a project recovery manager was appointed who initially reported to the Clerk of the House and Chief Executive and then, from autumn 2007, to a new Project Board led by the Principal Clerk of Select Committees. This has seen the project through to completion and post-completion trialling and operation.
	The extension to the project to include the Grand Committee Room roof and Westminster Hall steps was authorised by the Project Advisory Board early in the project in 2004 on the basis that to do so might create a more beneficial price for the works and a more timely construction period and to do otherwise would create potential conflict of working area arrangements.

Official Report

David Amess: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission if the Commission will take steps to ensure that the  Official Report is published on the Parliamentary intranet in PDF format; what discussions the Commission has had with the House of Lords authorities about the availability on the Parliamentary intranet of House of Lords  Hansard in PDF format; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: Officials are aware of this development in the Lords but, apart from questions from the hon. Member for Southend, West, there has been no demand for a similar arrangement in the Commons. Such a change would have implications for the current contractual arrangements for distributing the  Official Report, although these are kept under continual review.

Parliamentary Ombudsman

Stephen Williams: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the Commission's role is in responding to Questions from hon. Members on the funding and administration of the parliamentary ombudsman.

Nick Harvey: The Commission has no role in the funding or administration of the parliamentary ombudsman. These are matters for the Cabinet Office.

WOMEN AND EQUALITY

Departmental Marketing

David Simpson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what assessment she has made of the cost effectiveness of Government-commissioned advertising in the last 12 months relating to matters falling within the remit of the Government Equalities Office.

Maria Eagle: In the last 12 months the Government Equalities Office has run a small recruitment campaign to fill some key vacancies. This advertising was successful in filling these vacancies. The GEO has not commissioned any other advertising.

Departmental Reports

James Duddridge: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality when the Government Equalities Office expects to publish its annual accounts.

Maria Eagle: The Government Equalities Office Annual Report and Resource Accounts 2007-08 were laid before Parliament on 21 July 2008 and published at:
	www.equalities.gov.uk
	on 13 August 2008.

Plain English

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how much the Government Equalities Office has spent on Plain English Campaign training courses since its establishment.

Maria Eagle: Since its establishment on 12 October 2007, the Government Equalities Office has not spent any money on Plain English Campaign training courses.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Departmental Lost Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Leader of the House what  (a) equipment and  (b) data were lost by her Office in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: In the last 12 months one laptop has been reported stolen from the Leader of the House of Commons Office. The laptop was used to update the office website and did not contain any personal data or other sensitive information. No data have been lost.

Oral Questions

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Leader of the House for what reasons there is a longer notice period for tabling questions for oral answer to the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland than for questions to other Ministers.

Chris Bryant: The Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Offices do not themselves hold most of the information on which Ministers need to draw in answering parliamentary questions on issues which are the responsibility of the devolved administrations. While the devolved administrations and other Departments are happy to provide information, the additional time involved means that three days' notice would not be enough for Ministers to be able to give full answers in the House.
	This issue was raised by the Procedure Committee in its Third Report of 2001-02 (HC 622); the Government's response was published as Cm 5628.

OLYMPICS

Departmental Official Visits

David Simpson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how much was spent on overnight accommodation by civil servants from her Office in the last 12 months.

Tessa Jowell: Details of how much the Cabinet Office spent on overnight accommodation by civil servants in the last 12 months are not held centrally and are therefore available only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Pay

David Simpson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how many non-pensionable bonuses were awarded to members of staff in her Department in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

Tessa Jowell: The information requested is a matter of public record. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich, East (Mr. Watson) to the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond) on 6 June 2008,  Official Report, column 1185W.

Olympic Games 2012: Education

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what assessment she has made of the Field Studies Council's proposals to site a residential urban education centre in the Olympic Park after the London 2012 Olympics.

Tessa Jowell: I am aware of the proposals made by the Field Studies Council (FSC). The FSC wrote to me earlier this year and I suggested that they meet with the London Development Agency (LDA), as interim clients for the Olympic Legacy Park, and my officials from the Government Olympic Executive (GOE). This meeting took place on 7 May 2008, when the FSC's proposals were discussed in detail in the context of the Legacy Masterplan Framework (LMF) being developed by the LDA. The LMF sets out the framework of homes, education and health facilities, workspaces, infrastructure and parkland that will need to be put in place following the 2012 Games. Another meeting is scheduled to take place in November, between the FSC, LDA and GOE, when the proposals will be considered further.

Plain English

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how much her Office has spent on Plain English Campaign training courses in each year since its establishment.

Tessa Jowell: My office has not spent anything on Plain English Campaign training courses since its establishment.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Agriculture: Lancashire

Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what percentage of the economy of Ribble Valley constituency was derived from agriculture  (a) at the most recent date for which figures are available,  (b) in 2008,  (c) in 1998 and  (d) in 1988.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 27 October 2008
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what percentage of the economy of Ribble Valley constituency was derived from agriculture (a) in the most recent date for which figures are available, (b) in 2008, (c) in 1998 and (d) in 1988. (230934)
	Information on economic activity by sector is not available for areas below NUTS3: Lancashire County Council.

Catz Club

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer to my right hon. Friend for Horsham (Mr. Maude) of 8 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 262-63, on the voluntary sector, what the timetable is for his review of the Catz Club, payments made to it by Futurebuilders and the removal of funding of Catz Club from the Futurebuilders website.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 28 October 2008
	 Pursuant to the answer given on 8 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 262-63, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster reviewed this case and wrote to the right hon. Member for Horsham (Mr. Maude) on 23 October 2008. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Catz Club

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer to my right hon. Friend for Horsham (Mr. Maude) of 8 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 262-63, on the voluntary sector, for what reasons Futurebuilders removed references to its funding of the charity Catz Club from its website.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 28 October 2008
	The Futurebuilders Fund is managed by Futurebuilders England Ltd. (FBE) under contract to the Cabinet Office.
	I understand that FBE did remove some references to Catz Club from their website on 12 September 2008, on the basis that they were no longer an investee of Futurebuilders.

Census

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the 2011 Census; and how much has been spent to date on trials prior to that census.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the estimated total cost to the public purse is of the 2011 Census, and how much has been spent to date on trials prior to that Census. (230808)
	On the basis of present planning assumptions, the cost of the 2011 Census in England and Wales over the period 2005-2016 is currently estimated to be around £487 million. Innovations for the 2011 Census within this budget include online completion of questionnaires and the tracking of each questionnaire from printing to processing through a robust form tracking system. We are also carrying out significant address register development and address checking work for the 2011 Census.
	The Censuses in Northern Ireland and Scotland are devolved matters.
	With regard to spend to date on trials prior to the 2011 Census, the way the programme of work is structured means that it is not possible to isolate expenditure specifically for testing activities. The development work has included elements of questionnaire design, address checking, and small-scale testing of components of the field operation together with the 2007 Test covering some 100,000 households. The spend to date from 2005 on planning and development for the 2011 Census is £34 million.

Charitable Donations: Occupied Territories

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 
	(1)  whether UK-based charities may provide funds to illegal Israeli settlements within the rules administered by the Charity Commission;
	(2)  whether the Charity Commission has issued any guidance to UK charities operating in Israel regarding their ability to operate in illegal Israeli settlements;
	(3)  what steps the Charity Commission takes to determine that UK charities do not support individuals or organisations which violate international law or undermine human rights;
	(4)  if he will estimate the number of UK charities which are operating in illegal Israeli settlements; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  if the Charity Commission will take steps to ensure that UK-based charities do not support Israeli settlement groups involved in committing violent acts against Palestinian civilians.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the Commission to reply.
	 Letter from Andrew Hind, dated 24 October 2008:
	As the Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, I have been asked to respond to your written Parliamentary Questions concerning charities operating in Israel and measures against UK charities supporting inappropriate individuals and/or organisations overseas.
	The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. The register of charities, which the Commission maintains, does not include charities which are based in other parts of the United Kingdom, so my answers below are confined to England and Wales only.
	The issues you raise are complex and not answered easily in the Parliamentary Question form (although I attempt to, below). Our guidance, "Charities working internationally", available on our website (www.charitycommission.gov.uk) covers the principles that should be applied for charities working abroad and in areas of conflict and political tension. From your series of questions, I can see that you have an obvious interest in how UK charities are regulated in such areas, particularly the Middle East. If you would find it helpful, our Director of Legal and Compliance, Kenneth Dibble, will be happy to meet you to discuss our approach to regulation and what our requirements are for charities operating in these areas.
	To take your PQs in turn:
	PQ 229942: Charities that work overseas, and are registered with the Charity Commission, are obliged to describe the countries in which they work. However, they are not obliged to specify areas within those countries.
	Based on information from the Register of Charities, 1,150 charities include Israel in their area of operations and 143 include 'Occupied Palestinian Territories'.
	PQ 229921: Charities falling under our regulatory jurisdiction can only provide funds for activities that further the charity's purposes, which may include a defined beneficial class (ie a specified group of whom will benefit) and area(s) of operation (ie where that benefit will be applied). The main considerations for deciding what charitable activities will be carried out in any region and to any group of beneficiaries are, firstly, a demonstrable need of charity and, secondly, that the charitable aid or services are delivered within the law—both charity law and all other laws that apply.
	PQ 229923: Charity trustees must act with due diligence to ensure that their charity's assets and reputation are not at undue risk of harm or abuse from the conduct or activities of the individuals and organisations they work with. They must also ensure that they operate within charity law, and any other applicable law. The Charity Commission has a statutory objective to promote compliance by charity trustees with their legal obligations. The Commission's Compliance and Support function is responsible for the delivery of its regulatory compliance work in this area. Our recently published "Risk and Proportionality Framework" for compliance work, available on our website, sets out the Commission's approach to regulatory compliance work.
	PQ 229943: Charities must operate within the law. It is unacceptable for a charity to support violent or unlawful activities, either in the UK or overseas. The Commission issues a range of guidance to charity trustees to assist them in mitigating the risk of the charity's assets or reputation being used in such unacceptable ways. Where a charity's assets or reputation are abused (whether deliberately or unwittingly) to support such activities, the Commission will act swiftly to resolve the issues—either by providing support to trustees or, where necessary, intervening by using the Commission's legal powers.
	PQ 229922: The Charity Commission has issued guidance to the charity sector on "Charities Working Internationally" which is publicly available on the Commission's website. The Charity Commission has also issued specific guidance on undertaking particular types of charitable activity such as the relief of need, education and so on. This guidance supports charity trustees to ensure that, no matter what their activities are or where they occur, those activities are charitable and legitimate.
	I hope this is helpful and please do let my office know if you would like a meeting with Kenneth Dibble.

Charities

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 
	(1)  how many charities registered in the UK operate outside the UK; and in what countries;
	(2)  how many charitable organisations the Charity Commission has penalised for receiving illegitimate donations in each of the last five years; and how many of those had religious objects.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the Commission to reply.
	 Letter from Andrew Hind, dated 24 October 2008:
	As the Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, it falls to me to respond to your Parliamentary questions concerning charities operating internationally and: the number of charities penalised by the Commission for receiving illegal donations in each of the last five years.
	The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. The register of charities, which the Commission maintains, does not include charities which are based in other parts of the United Kingdom. I take each question in turn below.
	PQ 230100: Charities which work overseas, and are registered with the Charity Commission, are obliged to describe the countries in which they work. However, they are not obliged to specify areas within those countries.
	Based on information from the register, there are 41,901 charities, based in England and Wales, which operate overseas. A copy of a table which indicates which countries registered charities are operating in has been placed in the Library of the House.
	PQ 230101: While the Charity Commission maintains records of the published reports of all the statutory inquiries it has undertaken over the last five years, it does not record this information centrally. Therefore, due to the significant time required to analyse the Commission's records manually, this question can only be answered at disproportionate cost.

Civil Servants: Manpower

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many civil service and executive agency jobs have been  (a) created in and  (b) relocated to York in each year since 1992.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	HM Treasury does not hold data in the format requested. Since 2004, under the Lyons Relocation Programme, 123 posts have been relocated to York from London and the South East.
	Overall, an additional 38,000 public sector jobs have been created in Yorkshire and the Humber Government office region over the last five years.

Civil Servants: Pensions

Paul Rowen: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much was paid  (a) by (i) employees and (ii) employers and  (b) to those receiving pension payment from the Civil Service pension scheme in each of the last five years.

Tom Watson: The contributions paid by employees and employers to, and pensions paid from, the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme for the last five years are detailed in the following table.
	
		
			  £000 
			   Contributions received  
			   Employers  Employees( 1)  Pensions paid 
			 2002-03 1,543,082 206,357 2,570,481 
			 2003-04 1,681,257 262,852 2,672,616 
			 2004-05 1,780,579 286,531 2,790,906 
			 2005-06 2,518,792 311,427 2,922,019 
			 2006-07 2,699,816 324,976 3,063,802 
			 (1) Employee contributions include amounts paid to purchase added years.

Death: Weather

John Randall: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many excess deaths from cold weather there were in  (a) the London borough of Hillingdon and  (b) Uxbridge constituency in each year since 1996-97.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many excess deaths from cold weather there were in the (a) London Borough of Hillingdon and (b) constituency of Uxbridge in each year since 1996-97. (231806)
	Estimates of excess winter deaths are based on the difference between the number of deaths during the four winter months (December to March) and the average number of deaths during the preceding four months (August to November) and the following four months (April to July). It is not possible to say whether these deaths were related to cold weather. The table attached provides the number of excess winter deaths in (a) the London Borough of Hillingdon and (b) Uxbridge parliamentary constituency in 1996/97 to 2005/06 (the latest available).
	
		
			  Table 1: Excess winter deaths( 1,2)  London borough of Hillingdon and Uxbridge parliamentary constituency, 1996-97 to 2005-06 
			  Deaths (persons) 
			  Winter  Hillingdon  Uxbridge 
			 1996-97 210 40 
			 1997-98 130 30 
			 1998-99 130 30 
			 1999-2000 240 80 
			 2000-01 110 60 
			 2001-02 120 30 
			 2002-03 100 40 
			 2003-04 70 20 
			 2004-05 150 50 
			 2005-06 120 30 
			 (1) The estimated number of excess winter deaths is the difference between the number of deaths during the four winter months (December to March) and the average number of deaths during the preceding four months (August to November) and the following four months (April to July). Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 to reflect the fact that they are estimates.  (2) Data are based on deaths occurring in each month.

Departmental Air Travel

James Duddridge: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer to my right hon. Friend for Horsham (Mr. Maude) of 14 July 2008,  Official Report, column 27W, on carbon emissions: Government Departments, how much air mileage incurred through departmental travel was used to calculate the departmental payment to the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund in each year that his Department has participated in the fund, broken down by  (a) domestic,  (b) short haul and  (c) long haul flights.

Tom Watson: Information will be available in the Cabinet Office Mid-Year report, expected to be published shortly.

Departmental Buildings

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the cost to his Department of provision of office facilities to  (a) special advisers and  (b) press officers (i) was in the last 12 months and (ii) has been since 1997-98.

Kevin Brennan: Details of the cost of provision of office facilities to special advisers and press officers are not held centrally and are therefore only available at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Consultants

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many external consultants were under contract to provide work for his Department as at 1 October 2008.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested is not held centrally and is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Liability

Paul Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on what dates in each of the last five years his Department informed the House of the creation of contingent liabilities relating to his Department or its non-departmental public bodies.

Kevin Brennan: The Cabinet Office informs the House of contingent liabilities relating to the Department and its non-departmental public bodies by disclosing them in a note to its published Annual Report and Accounts.
	Contingent liabilities were reported at note 29 in the Annual Report and Resource Accounts 2004-05 [HC 372].
	No contingent liabilities have been reported in subsequent years.

Departmental NDPBs

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what funding has been agreed with each of his Department's non-departmental public bodies for the period 2008-11.

Kevin Brennan: The published details of the funding for the Cabinet Office's non-departmental public bodies for 2008-11 can be found in the Central Government Supply Estimates 2008-09 Supplementary Budgetary Information, published April 2008 (Cm7359), pages 261 and 263, (Resource Budget DEL and AME-voted and non voted) and page 264, (Capital Budget DEL and AME—voted and non voted).The Estimates are available via the following website:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/sbi0809_fulldoc.pdf
	A small number only of the Department's NDPB funding and subsequent expenditures are broken down in the Central Government Supply Estimates 2008-09. The disclosure of the Independent Office and the Committee on Standards in Public Life is a new addition to the reporting for the Cabinet Office, where the details have been shown separately from the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2007-08 onwards.
	Details of the funding for the Department's Executive NDPBs can also be found in the following publications:
	Capacitybuilders and The Commission for the Compact: 2007 Pre-Budget Report and Comprehensive Spending Review, published on 9 October 2007 (Cm7227), page 108, box 6.5, copies of which are available via the following website:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/pbr_csr07_complete report_1546.pdf
	Capacitybuilders: The Future Role of the Third Sector in Social and Economic Regeneration: Final Report, published in July 2007 (Cm7189), page 15.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much was spent on entertainment by his Department in 2007-08; and how much was spent on  (a) food,  (b) alcohol,  (c) staff and  (d) accommodation.

Kevin Brennan: Details of how much was spent on entertainment by the Cabinet Office in 2007-08 and how much was spent on  (a) food,  (b) alcohol,  (c) staff and  (d) accommodation is not held centrally and is therefore available only at disproportionate cost.
	All Cabinet Office expenditure on entertainment is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in "Managing Public Money" and the Treasury handbook on "Regularity and Propriety".
	For details of receptions hosted by Cabinet Office Ministers in 2007-08 I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) on 22 July 2008,  Official Report, column 1257W.

Departmental Older Workers

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people aged over  (a) 55 and  (b) 60 years of age were recruited by his Department in 2007-08; and what percentage in each case this was of the number of new recruits.

Tom Watson: During 2007-08, 363 people joined the Cabinet Office. Of these, nine people were aged over 55 (3 per cent.). In order to protect the privacy of the small numbers of people involved, it would not be appropriate to provide a further breakdown.

Departmental Training

Greg Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what personal training courses at public expense he has undertaken since his appointment.

Liam Byrne: I have not undertaken any such courses.

Employment Agencies

Greg Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which recruitment agencies  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have used in the last three years; and how much was paid to each of these recruitment agencies in each year.

Kevin Brennan: The Department does not collate this information centrally and therefore it can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Employment: Agriculture

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people in Essex are employed in agriculture.

Jane Kennedy: I have been asked to reply.
	The total agricultural labour force on registered holdings in Essex (comprising Essex CC, Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea unitary authorities) at June 2007 is shown as follows.
	
		
			   Number 
			 Total farmers, partners, directors and spouses (if working on holding) 4,800 
			 Total workers (full, part-time and casual) 4,599 
			 Total labour force 9,399 
			  Note: As the annual June Survey is based on a sample, estimates have been made for holdings not surveyed.  Source: June Agricultural Survey

Futurebuilders: Finance

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the budget for 2008-09 is of  (a) Futurebuilders and  (b) the Office of the Third Sector.

Kevin Brennan: The programme and administration budgets for the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) are published within the parliamentary estimates for the Cabinet Office—firstly in the main estimates and then updated in the winter and spring supplementary estimates. The budget for Futurebuilders is included with this figure.

Income Tax

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the liability for income tax for households in each income decile group in England and Wales was in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08; and what it will be for 2008-09.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 27 October 2008
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the liability for income tax for households in each income decile group in England and Wales was in (a) 2006/07 and (b) 2007/08; and what it will be for 2008/09. (230825).
	The table provided shows estimates of the average income tax. after deduction of tax credits, paid by households in England and Wales by income decile group. Of the years requested, data are only available for the year 2006/07 - figures for 2007/08 will be available in June 2009. Income tax estimates are shown both in the form of annual payments and as percentages of gross household income.
	These figures are based on the same dataset which is used to produce the ONS's annual analysis 'The effects of taxes and benefits on household income' which can be found at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits. This publication presents results for all UK households and therefore the estimates shown here for England and Wales differ slightly to those appearing in the annual analysis.
	
		
			  Average income tax( 1)  paid by households by income decile group, 2006-07 
			  England and Wales 
			   Decile groups of households ranked by equivalised disposable income 
			   Bottom  2( nd)  3( rd)  4( th)  5( th)  6( th)  7( th)  8( th)  9( th)  Top  All households 
			 Income tax  (£ per year) 280 520 850 1,550 2,560 3,430 4,840 6,730 8,810 19,340 4,890 
			 Income tax (as a percentage of gross household income) 3.1 3.8 5.1 7.5 9.8 11.4 13 14.7 15.9 20.3 14.0 
			 (1) After deduction of tax credits.  Source: Office for National Statistics

Population

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proportion of projected growth in UK population he expects will be accounted for by (a) immigration and (b) natural growth at the point at which the domestic population reaches 70 million.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question asking what proportion of projected growth in population she expects will be accounted for by (a) immigration and (b) natural growth at the point at which the domestic population reaches 70 million. (232523)
	The most recent national population projections, based on mid-2006 population estimates, were published by the Office for National Statistics on 23 October 2007. Under the principal projection, the population of the UK is expected to reach 70 million in 2028.
	Figures on the proportion of projected growth attributable to immigration and natural growth for the year 2031 are available. A table showing these proportions is given below.
	
		
			  Projected population growth by component, United Kingdom, 2006-31 
			   Principal projection 
			 Total population increase between 2006 and 2031(thousand) 10,513 
			  Resulting from:  
			 Assumed net migration (thousand) 4,912 
			 Natural change assuming no migration (thousand) 3,214 
			 Additional natural change from assumed level of net migration (thousand) 2,387 
			   
			  Percentage of pop ulation  gro wth 2006- 31 resulting from:  
			 Assumed net migration 47 
			 Natural change assuming no migration 31 
			 Additional natural change from assumed level of net migration 23 
			  Source: Migration and Population growth: http://www.gad.gov.uk/Demography_Data/Population/2006/methodology/mignote.asp

Schools

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will place in the Library a copy of materials his Department has distributed to schools in the last three years.

Tom Watson: I refer to the answers given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) on 8 October 2008,  Official Report, column 619W. The wider Cabinet Office does not distribute any material to schools.

Strategy Unit

Anne Main: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the  (a) date,  (b) location and  (c) subject was of each (i) presentation given and (ii) seminar held by the Strategy Unit since 1 January 2008.

Kevin Brennan: The Strategy Unit holds two types of seminar: (i) Seminars organised by project teams with participants selected for their expertise according to the issues being addressed by the team; and (ii) a regular programme of lunchtime seminars involving presentations by external speakers on a range of strategic issues which are open to all Strategy Unit staff and invited officials across Whitehall. Copies of tables detailing the seminars held by the Strategy Unit have been placed in the Library of the House.

Taxis

Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the Answer of 7 October 2008,  Official Report, column 562W, on taxis, how taxi costs are recorded on the Cabinet Office accounting system; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: Expenditure on taxis may be recorded across a number of accounting codes, some of which may also include non-taxi expenditure, and therefore cannot be readily identified.

Trade Unions

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many civil servants in his Department were seconded to work for  (a) trades unions and  (b) the Trades Union Congress in each year since 2003.

Tom Watson: None.

Voluntary Organisations: Surveys

Nick Hurd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the budget for the national survey of third sector organisations commissioned by the Office of the Third Sector from Ipsos MORI is; and if he will place a copy of the survey in the Library.

Kevin Brennan: The programme and administration budgets for the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) are published within the parliamentary estimates for the Cabinet Office—firstly in the main estimates and then updated in the winter and spring supplementary estimates. The budget for the national survey of third sector organisations is included within this figure.
	Copies of the surveys used have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he plans to answer question 217221, on data handling procedures, tabled on 3rd July 2008.

Liam Byrne: A reply has been sent to the hon. Member.

PRIME MINISTER

Banks

Anne Main: To ask the Prime Minister on what occasions he has met senior executives of  (a) Lloyds TSB,  (b) HBOS and  (c) Bradford and Bingley in each of the last 12 months.

Gordon Brown: My officials and I have meetings with a wide range of organisations and individuals on a range of subjects.

Cabinet: Meetings

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Prime Minister when he expects to publish the costs associated with the recent Cabinet meeting in Birmingham; and if he will make a statement.

Pete Wishart: To ask the Prime Minister when he expects to publish the costs of the recent Cabinet visit to Birmingham.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban) on 29 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1019W.

Cabinet: Meetings

Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister what rules cover those entitled to attend Cabinet meetings; and what powers he has to change such rules.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the Ministerial Appointments press notice released by my Office. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House and are also available on the No 10 website:
	http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/press-notices.

China: Olympic Games

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 27 October 2008,  Official Report, column 666W, on the Olympic Games, what the names are of all those who  (a) were invited to and  (b) attended the reception for Team GB at Lancaster House.

Gordon Brown: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member on 27 October 2008,  Official Report, column 666W.

Imperial College London

Greg Hands: To ask the Prime Minister what process was used to select the audience members at the question and answer session he held on 27 October 2008; what process was used to select the questions asked; whether any of the audience members were also members of political parties; and whether he had advance sight of any of the questions asked at the question and answer session.

Gordon Brown: The event was hosted and chaired by Imperial college. I had no prior notice of the questions.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Keith Simpson: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2008,  Official Report, column 666W, on Iraq: peacekeeping operations, what form the continuous review of military and humanitarian efforts takes.

Gordon Brown: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member on 27 October 2008,  Official Report, column 666W.

Members' Interests

Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister whether a list of Ministers' relevant interests declared to their Permanent Secretaries will be published in 2008.

Gordon Brown: The list is currently being updated and will be published as soon as the work is completed.

World War I: Anniversaries

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will attend the remembrance event at the Canadian High Commission on 4 November.

Gordon Brown: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for North Durham (Mr. Jones) will be attending on behalf of the Government.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Animal Experiments: Licensing

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications there were for licences for animal experimentation in each year since 2005; how many licences were granted in each such year; and how many applications were rejected.

Meg Hillier: Details for licences granted since 2005 to date under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 are shown in the following table. A feature of the regulatory regime under the 1986 Act is the discussion that often takes place at an early stage between applicants (or prospective applicants) and the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate. When serious deficiencies are discovered during these early discussions, proposals unlikely to meet the Act's stringent requirements are revised or withdrawn before formal refusal becomes necessary.
	
		
			  Year project licence applied for  Number of licences applied for  Number granted  in 2005  Number granted in 2006  Number granted  in 2007  Number granted  in 2008  Number not proceeded with plus those still outstanding at end of the period  Number refused 
			  Project licences
			 2005 492 386 88 4 1 13 0 
			 2006 586 X 430 135 0 21 0 
			 2007 599 X X 458 109 32 0 
			 2008 to date 610 X X X 458 152 0 
			 
			  Personal licences
			 2005 1,784 1,567 204 5 3 5 0 
			 2006 2,270 X 1,968 282 6 14 0 
			 2007 2,505 X X 2,267 209 29 0 
			 2008 to date 2,059 X X X 1,933 126 0 
			 
			  Certificates of  d esignation
			 2005 5 4 — — — 1 — 
			 2006 2 — 2 — — — — 
			 2007 2 X X 2  0 0 
			 2008 to date 2 X X X 1 1 0

Animal Experiments: Licensing

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many laboratories were licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in 2007.

Meg Hillier: As at 31 December 2007 there were 200 designated establishments licensed under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

Crimes of Violence: Homosexuality

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps police services in England have taken to use social networking sites to encourage reporting of homophobic hate crimes and incidents; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: The Association of Police Officers are reviewing the use of third party reporting mechanisms. The Minister of State for Security, Counter-Terrorism and Policing discussed the matter at a bi-lateral meeting with the Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police on 21 October 2008 both parties stated their desire to see a service provided and the Minister has asked Superintendent Paul Giannasi, the project lead for Race for Justice to urgently meet with Metropolitan Police officials to establish the feasibility and cost of a solution. The first meeting has taken place and a report will be considered by the Minister and the Commissioner when the work is complete. The service will then be reviewed and developed to allow links into 'social networking' and other internet schemes.

Departmental Computers

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of  (a) the number of computer devices left on overnight in her Department when not in use and  (b) the cost per year of leaving computer devices on overnight when not in use in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office does not monitor or track how many devices have been left on overnight, so statistics for the past five years are not available.
	We are initiating a project to implement technology that will ensure that all desktop devices automatically turn off overnight. This technology will also provide us with monitoring and reporting capabilities. The project is expected to implement this financial year and will cover the majority of the IT estate.

Departmental ICT

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the value of her Department's computer systems  (a) was at the time of purchase and  (b) is now.

Phil Woolas: This response refers only to systems managed by Home Office IT Shared Services.
	Under the PFI contracts, the Department does not "purchase" computer systems. For the main POISE and INDIGO systems, they have a nominal asset value of £1 each.
	Information on UKBA system assets (excluding POISE and INDIGO) are shown here, as at 1 April 2008.
	
		
			  System name  Asset value (as at 1 April 2008)  (£000) 
			 IAFS 6,860 
			 Warnings Index 317 
			 ASYS 409 
			 Mycroft 477 
		
	
	Initial purchase values for the above systems are not available.

Departmental ICT

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department's IT  (a) systems and  (b) services conform to the ISO 27001 standard.

Phil Woolas: Nearly all in-service IT systems and managed services within Home Office IT Shared Services are designed and constructed to take full account of the Department's policies and procedures for information security management which have been confirmed to be fully compliant with the controls in ISO 27001. As part of the normal departmental review of procedures, these are continually checked against existing and new controls contained in ISO 27001.
	The Home Office's priority is to conform to the new standards as laid out in the data handling report by the Cabinet Secretary published on 25 June 2008. The new standards build on recognised good practice and international standards for information security such as ISO 27001 and are tailored to the particular circumstances of UK central Government.
	Work is under way to address the very few non-conformant systems.

Departmental ICT

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of her Department's staff have access to the Department's IT infrastructure at home.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office does not monitor the number of people who access IT systems from home. We provide for remote access through mobile working but we cannot state where these are used (home or office). The decision on whether or not people work from home is one for line managers and business units.

Departmental Trade Unions

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civil servants in her Department were seconded to work for  (a) trade unions and  (b) the Trades Union Congress in each year since 2003.

Phil Woolas: The following table gives a breakdown of secondments from the Home Office to trade unions for each year since 2003. The table reflects formal secondments out of the Home Office.
	No Home Office staff were seconded to the Trades Union Congress during the period for which data have been requested.
	
		
			  Civil servants seconded from the Home Office to work for trade unions, 2003 to 2008 
			   Home Office HQ  UK Border Agency  Identity and Passport Service  HM Prison Service  Criminal Records Bureau 
			 2003 0 0 1 Not available 0 
			 2004 0 0 1 Not available 0 
			 2005 1 0 1 Not available 0 
			 2006 0 0 2 Not available 0 
			 2007 0 1 1 Not available 0 
			 2008 0 1 1 N/A — part of MoJ 0

Foreign Workers: Care Homes

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what factors were considered by the Migrant Advisory Committee when making its recommendation that NVQ Level three qualified staff from outside the European Union in care homes should be paid a minimum of £8.50 per hour.

Phil Woolas: The methodology used by the Migration Advisory Committee, when making the recommendation that skilled senior care workers should be regarded as skilled only if they are paid at least £8.80 per hour, is fully set out in its September 2008 report "Skilled, Shortage, Sensible: The Recommended Shortage Occupation Lists for Scotland and the UK". A copy has been placed in the House Library.

Foreign Workers: Care Homes

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the recommendation of the Migrant Advisory Committee that NVQ Level 3 qualified staff from outside the European Union in care homes should be paid a minimum of £8.50 per hour; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) was asked to provide independent, transparent and evidence-based advice to the Government on where skilled labour market shortages exist that can sensibly be filled by migration.
	The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) included senior care workers with a formal qualification at National Qualification Framework (NQF) level 3 in Scotland or Wales, or paid an hourly salary of at least £8.80 on their recommended shortage occupation list.
	Government have given careful consideration to the report and advice, and will decide whether to accept their recommendations or not, before publishing our shortage occupation list ahead of the launch of tier 2 of the points-based system in November.

Immigration

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will break down by nationality the asylum applicants dealt with under the legacy exercise who have been  (a) granted and  (b) refused indefinite leave to remain.

Phil Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill (Mr. Byrne) on 29 September 2008,  Official Report, column 2349W.
	The requested information is not collated centrally and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost through the examination of individual cases.

Immigration: English Language

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of spouses of each sex who entered the UK for settlement purposes in 2007 from  (a) India,  (b) Pakistan and  (c) Bangladesh who did not have conversational English.

Phil Woolas: The number of visas issued for entry as a spouse for settlement purposes in 2007 at our posts in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 India 4,379 
			 Pakistan 11,033 
			 Bangladesh 2,644 
		
	
	These figures include a small number who qualified for Indefinite Leave to Enter (ILE), as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 India 44 
			 Pakistan 16 
			 Bangladesh 9 
		
	
	The remainder would have been admitted for an initial period of two years, at the end of which they may apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR).
	Since 2 April 2007, anyone applying for ILE or ILR has had to show, among other things, that they have a sufficient knowledge of the English language and of life in the UK. It is not possible to determine from our records how many of the above applicants who were granted  (a) limited leave to enter, or  (b) ILE before 2 April 2007, did not have conversational English.

Lancashire Constabulary: Special Constables

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables there were in Lancashire Constabulary in each year since 2004, broken down by police division.

Vernon Coaker: The available data are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Special constable strength( 1,2 ) Lancashire 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Lancashire Central 31 39 48 70 85 
			 Lancashire Eastern 60 48 58 55 50 
			 Lancashire Northern 49 43 51 48 47 
			 Lancashire Southern 86 83 92 89 80 
			 Lancashire Western 38 42 47 51 62 
			 Pennine 62 60 67 63 66 
			 Central services 10 4 3 3 3 
			 Total 326 315 363 376 390 
			 (1) Figures given as headcount values. (2) Figures correct as at 31 March in each given year.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to respond to the letter to her dated 8th September from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Ms Linda James.

Jacqui Smith: I replied to my right hon. Friend for Manchester, Gorton on 30 October 2008.

Metropolitan Police: Special Constables

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special constables there were in the Metropolitan Police Authority area in each year since 2004, broken down by police division; and how many special constables there were in  (a) the London borough of Hillingdon and  (b) Uxbridge constituency in each year.

Vernon Coaker: The available data are given in the following table.
	Police service strength data are not available by London borough or constituency, and are collected at the police force and Basic Command Unit (BCU) levels only. Within the Metropolitan Police Service area however, the boundaries for boroughs and BCUs are coterminous.
	
		
			  Special Constables (headcount)( 1)  in the Metropolitan Police service by Basic Command unit as at  31  March 2004 to  31  March 2008 
			   2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Barking and Dagenham 14 10 21 28 53 
			 Barnet 38 35 73 94 124 
			 Bexley 74 81 103 101 89 
			 Brent 29 27 29 19 43 
			 Bromley 12 10 24 47 78 
			 Camden 28 22 52 78 134 
			 Central Services 18 26 35 114 162 
			 City of Westminster 85 81 166 251 256 
			 Croydon 17 14 20 36 67 
			 Ealing 21 14 24 37 78 
			 Enfield 20 17 23 30 64 
			 Greenwich 17 7 42 44 75 
			 Hackney 12 9 19 25 42 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 20 19 44 58 72 
			 Haringey 13 14 27 43 46 
			 Harrow 13 10 22 52 71 
			 Havering 29 33 41 52 80 
			 Heathrow 7 12 16 17 17 
			 Hillingdon 15 15 22 38 64 
			 Hounslow 18 15 23 21 35 
			 Islington 39 35 32 40 73 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 14 20 37 51 134 
			 Kingston upon Thames 15 13 32 40 63 
			 Lambeth 20 20 35 42 58 
			 Lewisham 13 9 33 42 45 
			 Merton 17 17 21 19 33 
			 Newham 16 15 23 42 66 
			 Redbridge 17 16 34 54 86 
			 Richmond upon Thames 19 17 25 36 43 
			 Southwark 18 9 25 36 52 
			 Sutton 6 4 11 25 29 
			 Tower Hamlets 17 20 34 36 54 
			 Waltham Forest 16 10 19 25 29 
			 Wandsworth 15 21 34 68 95 
			 Metropolitan Police Service 742 697 1,221 1,741 2,510 
			 (1) Special constable figures are given as headcount measures.

Plain English

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent by her Department on Plain English Campaign training courses for its staff in each year since 2005.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office spend on Plain English Campaign training courses for the financial years 2005-06 to 2007-08 is as follows.
	
		
			   £ 
			 2005-06 20,890.32 
			 2006-07 5,896.03 
			 2007-08 1,527.50 
		
	
	The Home Office holds corporate membership of the Plain English Campaign. It promotes the use of plain English in all replies sent from the Department, and is committed to the use of plain English.

Police: Dorset

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many front line police officers there were in Bournemouth and Poole in each of the last 10 years.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 30 October 2008
	The number of officers and police staff and their deployment to operational and non-operational activities is a matter for the Chief Constable. The following table sets out the number of police officers in the Bournemouth and Poole basic command units for each year since data was first collected.
	
		
			  Bournemouth and Poole Basic Command Units( 1) 
			  As at 31 March each year  Bournemouth  Poole 
			 2002 296 183 
			 2003 318 180 
			 2004 322 186 
			 2005 317 187 
			 2006 319 176 
			 2007 315 215 
			 2008 317 190 
			 (1) All figures are full-time equivalent strength.

Police: Eastbourne

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) police officers and  (b) police officers per 1,000 individuals there were in Eastbourne constituency in each of the last 10 years.

Vernon Coaker: Information for Sussex police strength along with basic command unit (BCU) data are provided in the following table. Eastbourne currently falls within the East Sussex Division. Before 2006, it was part of the East Downs Division. Police personnel data are not available by parliamentary constituency. No BCU data are available prior to 2002-03.
	
		
			   1999( 1)  2000( 1)  2001( 1)  2002( 1)  2003( 1, )( 3)  2004( 1, )( 3)  2005( 1, )( 3)  2006( 1, )( 3)  2007( 1, )( 3)  2008( 1, )( 3) 
			  Sussex police force   
			 Police officer strength (FTE)(2,3) 2,847 2,822 2,855 2,893 2,989 3,039 3,044 3,092 3,077 3,032 
			 Police officers per 1,000 population(2,)( )(4) 1.91 1.88 1.88 1.90 2.03 2.06 2.05 2.07 2.05 2.01 
			
			  East Downs BCU   
			 Police officer strength (FTE)(2,)( )(4) — — — — 351 375 380 378 — — 
			 Police officers per 1,000 population(2,)( )(4) — — — — 1.44 1.17 1.18 1.17 — — 
			
			  East Sussex BCU   
			 Police officer strength (FTE)(2,)( )(4) — — — — — — — — 696 695 
			 Police officers per 1,000 population(2,)( )(4) — — — — — — — — 1.4 1.37 
			 (1) Figures as at 31 March in each year provided. (2) This and other tables contain full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (3) Comparable strength (excludes those on career breaks, or maternity/paternity leave). The Police Numbers Task Force (2001) recommended that a clear presentation was made of the numbers of staff employed by police forces including those seconded into the force and those on any type of long or short-term absence. These new calculations were first used in 2003, and are not comparable with data prior to March 2003. The data from 2003 onwards used here are termed comparable because they have been calculated on the old basis to allow comparison. (4) Figures up to 31 March 2002 exclude staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. The figures for 31 March 2003 onwards figures include those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.

Police: Finance

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) police constables and  (b) police community support officers in (i) England and (ii) Avon and Somerset Constabulary will be funded by her Department for each year of the 2007 to 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review period; and how much has been set aside for this purpose for each such year.

Vernon Coaker: The following table sets out the number of constables and police community support officers in England and the Avon and Somerset constabulary for March 2007 and 2008. It is not possible to identify what proportion of constables are, or will be funded by the Home Office during the CSR period as the cost of policing is jointly met through police grant from the Home Office, revenue support grant from the DCLG and the police authority precept on the council tax. Decisions on the number of officers at each rank are an operational matter for the chief constable.
	In December 2006, in response to requests from Association of Chief Police Officers and the Association of Police Authorities, my predecessor agreed to relax the controls over officer numbers imposed by the Crime Fighting Fund (CFF). As a result of this relaxation, chief constables are able to use the CFF funding where it is most needed, rather than solely to fund police officer posts. This flexibility has given the service the freedom they asked for to employ staff instead of officers in back office and support roles, allowing officers to concentrate on core policing functions.
	CFF payments total £274.3 million for England, including £1.422 million for the Avon and Somerset constabulary. As many forces are now taking advantage of the new CFF flexibilities it is not possible to identify how many constable posts continue to be funded through the CFF.
	In the case of police community support officers specific grant funding for neighbourhood policing includes a contribution towards the cost of maintaining PCSOs in England. Home Office funding in 2008-09 for neighbourhood policing, including PCSOs, is £310 million, including £7 million for Avon and Somerset to continue implementing neighbourhood policing and to help support the cost of their PCSOs. The Government have announced that this funding will be uprated in each year of the comprehensive spending review period in line with inflation.
	
		
			  Police constables and police community support officers England and Avon and Somerset constabulary( 1) 
			   31 March 2007  31 March 2008 
			  Constables   
			 England 103,724 103,374 
			 Avon and Somerset 2,658 2,639 
			
			  Police community support officers   
			 England 12,856 15,107 
			 Avon and Somerset 302 377 
			 (1 )All figures are full-time equivalent strength

Police: Hemel Hempstead

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many  (a) police officers and  (b) police officers per 1,000 individuals there were in Hemel Hempstead constituency in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how many police officers there were in  (a) Hemel Hempstead and  (b) Hertfordshire in (i) 1997 and (ii) the latest period for which figures are available.

Vernon Coaker: Information for Hertfordshire constabulary at the police force and basic command unit (BCU) level is provided in the following tables. Hemel Hempstead falls within the western division BCU. Police personnel data are not available by parliamentary constituency. BCU data are not available prior to 2002-03.
	
		
			  Police officer strength( 1,2)  and officers per 100,000 population for Hertfordshire police force 
			  As at 31 March  each year  Police officer strength  Officers per 100,000 population 
			 1997 1,759 205 
			 1998 1,740 202 
			 1999 1,724 198 
			 2000 1,767 201 
			 2001 1,922 184 
			 2002 1,825 174 
			 2003 1,957 191 
			 2004 2,086 204 
			 2005 2,104 206 
			 2006 2,126 208 
			 2007 2,159 210 
			 2008 2,137 204 
			 (1) These tables contain full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (2) Comparable strength (excludes those on career breaks, or maternity/paternity leave). The Police Numbers Task Force (2001) recommended that a clear presentation was made of the numbers of staff employed by police forces including those seconded into the force and those on any type of long or short-term absence. These new calculations were first used in 2003, and are not comparable with data prior to March 2003. The data from 2003 onwards used here are termed comparable because they have been calculated on the old basis to allow comparison. 
		
	
	
		
			  Police officer strength( 1,2)  and officers par 100,000 population for Hertfordshire western basic command unit 
			  As at 31 March  each year  Police officer strength  Officers per 100,000 population 
			 2003 504 168 
			 2004 552 183 
			 2005 547 182 
			 2006 516 171 
			 2007 505 167 
			 2008 494 163 
			 (1) These tables contain full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (2) Data collected from 2002-03 onwards.

Police: Translation Services

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much police forces spent on interpretation and translation in Hertfordshire in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) on 27 October 2008,  Official Report, column 686W.

Police: Uxbridge

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were based in Uxbridge constituency in each of the last 10 years.

Vernon Coaker: The available data are given in the following table, and relate to the Hillingdon Basic Command Unit.
	Police service strength data are not available by constituency, and are collected at the police force and Basic Command Unit (BCU) levels only. BCU level data have been centrally collected from 2002-03 onwards.
	
		
			  Police officers (FTE)( 1)  in the Hillingdon Basic Command Unit of the Metropolitan Police 2003-08 
			   As at 31 March each year 
			   2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Hillingdon 458 484 498 506 495 514 
			 (1) These figures are based on full-time equivalents that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Due to rounding there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of constituent items. Figures include those officers on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.

UK Border Agency: Expenditure

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to the public purse of the UK Border Agency and its predecessor was in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08.

Phil Woolas: I refer the right hon. and learned Member to the answer I gave my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) on 21 October 2008,  Official Report, column 273W.

Vehicle Number Plates

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been  (a) prosecuted and  (b) convicted for displaying a Union Flag or national flag of a UK country on their vehicle number plate in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	Information collected centrally on the court proceedings database held by my Department does not separately identify offences involving the use or display of flags or symbols on vehicle number plates.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she will answer question 180227 on the legacy casework programme tabled on 16 January 2008 by the hon. Member for Cardiff Central; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: My predecessor replied to the hon. Member on 1 September 2008,  Official Report, column 1520W.

TRANSPORT

A12: Road Traffic

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the daily average number of vehicles using the A12 in Essex in each of the last 10 years.

Paul Clark: The annual average daily flow (AADF) for the A12 in Essex for each year from 1998 to 2007 is shown in the following table. The AADFs are rounded to the nearest 100 vehicles.
	
		
			   AADF, all motor vehicles 
			 1998 57,300 
			 1999 57,800 
			 2000 56,200 
			 2001 59,100 
			 2002 60,800 
			 2003 61,500 
			 2004 62,000 
			 2005 60,300 
			 2006 62,900 
			 2007 61,700 
		
	
	AADF data are currently available from our website:
	www.dft.gov.uk/matrix/
	for 1999-2007.

A14: Road Traffic

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the most recent traffic flow data for each section of the A14 are.

Paul Clark: The Annual Average Daily Flow (AADF) data are shown in the table for every link of the A14. These links correspond to sections of the A14 between major junctions. The AADF data are rounded to the nearest 100 vehicles.
	
		
			  Start junction  End junction  AADF, all motor vehicles 
			 M6 westbound slip M1 18,900 
			 M1 LA Boundary 41,500 
			 LA boundary A5199 47,000 
			 A5199 A508 48,900 
			 A508 A6(T) 47,700 
			 A6 A43/A4300 70,000 
			 A43/A4300 A43/A6013 78,500 
			 A43/A6013 A509 71,300 
			 A509 A6/A6003 56,700 
			 A6/A6003 A510 to Finedon 42,500 
			 A510 A6116 near Twywell 45,000 
			 A6116 near Twywell A45(T) 45,600 
			 A45(T) LA Boundary 42,600 
			 LA boundary A1 39,300 
			 A1 A14/A141 46,500 
			 A141 Huntingdon A1M feeder road Little Stukely 32,500 
			 A141 A1198 55,800 
			 A1198 A1096 67,200 
			 A1096 A14 71,100 
			 B1050 Dry Drayton Road/Oakington Road 93,600 
			 Dry Drayton Road/ Oakington Road M11 92,700 
			 M11 A1307 48,200 
			 A1307 A14 9,600 
			 A14 merge B1049 63,500 
			 B1049 A14 60,000 
			 A10 B1047 60,900 
			 B1047 A1303 46,300 
			 A1303 A1303 42,400 
			 A1303 spur A14 merge 40,800 
			 A14 split LA boundary 59,600 
			 LA boundary A142 59,600 
			 A142 LA boundary 61,000 
			 LA boundary A11/A1304 61,000 
			 A14 west slip A14 east slip 47,100 
			 A11 LA boundary 33,100 
			 LA boundary B1506 33,100 
			 LA boundary B1106 Westley Road 40,200 
			 B1106 Westley Road A143 Compeigne Way 40,200 
			 A14/A143 A134 at flyover 44,800 
			 A134 A1088 39,500 
			 A1088 A1308 33,900 
			 A1308 A1120 33,500 
			 A1120 A140 36,500 
			 A140 B113 47,400 
			 B1113 Bramford Road A140 South of Kettle Lane 57,700 
			 A14 A14 57,700 
			 A1156 slip over-bridge Southbound on slip from A1156 50,500 
			 A12/A1214 roundabout Sproughton Road 46,200 
			 Sproughton Road A1156 50,500 
			  A137 49,900 
			 A137 A1189 52,400 
			 A1189 A12 44,200 
			 A12 Kirton Road, Trimley St Martin junction 26,700 
			 Kirton Road, Trimley St Martin junction A154E 30,900 
			 A154 Trinity Road A154 Candlet Road roundabout 18,000 
			 A154 in-feed Dock Road 7,000 
			 A428/M11 A14 merge 22,900 
			 A14 main route A11 27,500 
			 A1088 A14 main route 2,300 
			 A14 Sproughton Road 5,000 
			 A14 Sproughton Road 6,200 
		
	
	AADF data are currently available from our website:
	www.dft.gov.uk/matrix/
	for 1999-2007.

A14: Suffolk

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many road traffic  (a) accidents and  (b) fatalities there were on the A14 in Suffolk in each year since 1997; and how many involved drivers under the age of 21 years in each case;
	(2)  how many road traffic  (a) accidents and  (b) fatalities there were on the A14 in Suffolk in each year since 1997.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is given in the following tables:
	
		
			  Number of reported personal injury road accidents and fatalities on the A14 in Suffolk, 1997 to 2007 
			   (a) Accidents  (b) Fatalities 
			 1997 128 7 
			 1998 123 2 
			 1999 122 8 
			 2000 138 8 
			 2001 138 10 
			 2002 157 5 
			 2003 128 3 
			 2004 143 5 
			 2005 150 4 
			 2006 119 6 
			 2007 126 6 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of reported personal injury road accidents involving drivers under the age of 21 and resulting fatalities on the A14 in Suffolk, 1997 to 2007 
			   (a) Accidents  (b) Fatalities 
			 1997 21 1 
			 1998 26 1 
			 1999 21 1 
			 2000 22 0 
			 2001 26 1 
			 2002 27 1 
			 2003 29 0 
			 2004 28 0 
			 2005 28 0 
			 2006 28 0 
			 2007 19 3

Commuters

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department has conducted research on the average journey time to and from work in the last 10 years.

Geoff Hoon: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State to the hon. Member on 22 October 2008,  Official Report, column 418W.

Departmental Meetings

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his Department's policy is on taking notes of  (a) internal departmental meetings and  (b) meetings with third parties; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 17 October 2008
	Key decisions arising from internal meetings are noted. Minutes are taken of meetings between Ministers and external stakeholders.

Departmental Older Workers

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people aged over  (a) 55 and  (b) 60 years were recruited by his Department in 2007-08; and what percentage in each case this was of the number of new recruits.

Geoff Hoon: The Central Department and its agencies recruited the following numbers of people aged over (a) 55 and  (b) 60 years during the 2007-08 financial year:
	
		
			  2007-08 
			   Number recruited  Percentage of total recruited 
			 Number recruited between age 55.00-59.99 79 3.50 
			 Number recruited over the age of 60.00 62 2.75 
			
			 Total number recruited in period 2,258 — 
		
	
	This represents all recruited employees within the period including permanent, temporary and contract employees.

Departmental Pay

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to reduce the gender pay gap in  (a) his Department and  (b) the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Geoff Hoon: The Department and its Agencies, which includes the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, comply fully with the Gender Equality Duty under section 76A of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, and remain committed to eliminating discrimination and promoting equality of opportunity between men and women. When preparing the Gender Equality Schemes, as required under the Act, specific consideration was given to the steps necessary to address the causes of any gender pay gaps.
	Delegated pay bargaining was introduced as an important means by which Agencies could improve their efficiency and service delivery. They were expected to deliver pay systems which were matched closely to the needs of their particular business and which made strong links between pay and performance in delivering high quality services.
	It remains the Department's position that pay reviews will continue to be undertaken by DfT (Central) and each individual Agency, through their delegated authority, to ensure that no disparity exists between male and female workers.

Departmental Private Finance Initiative

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the capital value of each private finance initiative scheme overseen by his Department which has reached financial close is; over what period repayment will take place; and what the total cost of repayment for each scheme will be.

Geoff Hoon: The capital value, contract length and total cost of repayment for every signed PFI project are recorded centrally on the Treasury website at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/ppp_pfi_stats.htm

Departmental Recruitment

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vacant posts in  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies were advertised in each of the last three years; and at what cost.

Geoff Hoon: The information requested for the central Department and its agencies is set out in the following table:
	
		
			   Posts  Cost (£) 
			 2005-06 2,096 1,417,321 
			 2006-07 1,477 1,444,869 
			 2007-08 1,569 1,956,649

Departmental Training

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department spent on external training courses for departmental staff in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006,  (c) 2007 and  (d) 2008; and which external organisations were paid by the Department to provide such courses in each year.

Geoff Hoon: The central Department and its agencies spent the following on external training courses in each of the last four financial years:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2004-05 (1)6,314,243 
			 2005-06 6,236,735 
			 2006-07 6,424,582 
			 2007-08 6,382,917 
			 (1) MCA could not provide a figure for this period. 
		
	
	The Driving Standards Agency could not provide this information, neither can a comprehensive list of the external training providers be provided without disproportionate cost.

DfT Rail: Secondment

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many staff of train operating companies have been seconded to work in DfT Rail over the last three years.

Geoff Hoon: One person from a train operating company has been identified as seconded to work in DfT Rail over the last three years.

DfT Rail: Secondment

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures have been put into place to ensure that staff seconded from train operating companies to DfT Rail learn no information of possible commercial use for their companies.

Geoff Hoon: The letter of appointment for staff seconded into DfT Rail makes clear that they are subject to a duty of confidentiality and loyal service to the crown which requires them to exercise care in the use of information they acquire in the course of their official duties and to protect information which is held in confidence. They are also advised that they are subject to the Official Secrets Act 1989.

Driving Tests: Pembrokeshire

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with the Driving Standards Agency on progress in establishing a multipurpose training centre in Pembrokeshire;
	(2)  what timetable has been set for the establishment of a multipurpose training centre in Pembrokeshire;
	(3)  how many sites in Pembrokeshire have been assessed by the Driving Standards Agency as potential locations for a multipurpose training centre.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 28 October 2008
	The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has assessed six sites for a multi purpose test centre (MPTC) location in the search area around Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire.
	One site, brought to DSA's attention by Pembrokeshire county council, was confirmed as being suitable. The site is council-owned and Agency staff held positive discussions with council officials regarding its use for motorcycle testing. However, the planning application submitted by DSA was later turned down by the council as was a subsequent appeal against the decision. Because of the problems encountered in finding a suitable location it has not been possible to set a timetable for establishing a MPTC in Pembroke. There is insufficient time to locate a suitable site for a MPTC, obtain planning permission and construct it in Pembroke before the target implementation date for the new practical motorcycle test at the end of March 2009.
	DSA is therefore looking for and assessing other sites which could be used part-time to deliver the off-road manoeuvres exercise. Sites under consideration include sports stadiums, docks, car parks and showgrounds. So far two potential sites have been identified in Pembrokeshire and these are being further assessed. DSA also wrote to Pembrokeshire county council on 22 October seeking assistance to locate such suitable sites.
	There have been no specific discussions relating to Pembrokeshire but the Secretary of State for Transport has been fully briefed and is aware of the current situation relating to the progress in the development of the network of multi purpose test centres.

Ferries: Lymington

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on plans by Wightlink for new ferries between Lymington and Yarmouth; what role his Department will have in determining the required permissions for the new ferries to enter service; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the financial interests of each of the Lymington harbour commissioners.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I have had no discussions with colleagues about this matter. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is responsible for issuing a passenger safety certificate for the Wightlink ferry and the Department has no other role in respect of any further permissions required. We do not hold information about the financial interests of the Lymington harbour commissioners.

First Great Western: Complaints

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many complaints his Department received about First Great Western in  (a) January to March,  (b) April to June and  (c) July to September 2008.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not have a statutory role in dealing with complaints against individual train operators. Accordingly, its register of correspondence reviewed does not explicitly identify which of the communications received about First Great Western are complaints.

Government Departments: Official Cars

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cars the Government  (a) owns and  (b) operates, broken down by Department; and how many of them are British-built.

Geoff Hoon: The Department for Transport does not hold information on other Departments' vehicle fleets.
	Information in respect of the cars owned and leased by the Department for Transport is provided in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of cars owned  Number of cars leased  Number of British built cars 
			  Central Department
			 DFT HQ (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Air Accidents Investigation Branch 0 7 0 
			 Marine Accident Investigation Branch 0 1 0 
			 
			 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency 0 38 (2)— 
			 Driving Standards Agency 30 0 (2)— 
			 Government Car and Despatch Agency 233 1 42 
			 Highways Agency 0 196 56 
			 Maritime and Coastguard Agency 404 0 45 
			 Vehicle and Operator Services Agency 238 0 (2)— 
			 Vehicle Certification Agency 3 0 0 
			 (1) Included in GCDA (2) Not recorded

First Great Western Trains: Rolling Stock

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to accept First Great Western's proposed bid for 11 new four carriage trains on the Cardiff to Portsmouth route.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport is in the early stages of discussions with First Great Western on plans to implement capacity increases to which the Government committed in their High Level Output Statement of July 2007.
	The Department's rolling stock plan of January 2008 stated that 52 additional Diesel Multiple Unit vehicles would be allocated to the First Great Western Franchise covering the Thames Valley and the Bristol area, and that the latter would receive vehicles transferred from London Midland. It noted, however, that these plans were not prescriptive and were subject to a development process within the industry.

Heathrow Airport

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what process his Department will follow following the Government's announcement on the capacity of Heathrow Airport in the event that BAA seek permission to  (a) introduce mixed-mode within the 480,000 cap and  (b) introduce mixed-mode and exceed the existing 480,000 cap.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The "Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport" consultation closed on 27 February and we expect to announce a decision on the future development of Heathrow by the end of the year.
	If mixed mode operations are supported (either within the current movements cap or with additional movements), it would be for the airport operator to bring forward plans and obtain the necessary planning approvals. The Government would maintain a close interest in this but the nature and timing of any planning applications would be a commercial matter for the airport operator.

Humber Bridge: Finance

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what payments have been made under the Appropriation Acts to cover unmet interest payments on the Humber Bridge debt in each year since 1982; and what other steps have been taken by the Government to cover the cost of Humber Bridge debt in each of those years.

Paul Clark: holding answer 30 October 2008
	Any payments made under Appropriation Acts will be shown in the Supply Estimates voted by Parliament. These are available from the Library of the House. Section 16.3 (Humber Bridge Loan) of the Department for Transport's accounts 2006-07 is also relevant and a copy of the relevant section has been placed in the House Library and is also in the public domain.

Invalid Vehicles: Accidents

Brooks Newmark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people were injured in accidents on roads or pavements involving motorised mobility aids in  (a) Braintree constituency,  (b) Essex and  (c) England in each of the last 10 years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is not available.

M6: Accidents

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road traffic accidents between junction 20 and junction 6 of the M6 in each of the last five years resulted in  (a) fatalities,  (b) serious injuries and  (c) other outcomes; and how many accidents in each category involved (i) UK-registered lorries and (ii) foreign-registered lorries.

Paul Clark: The numbers of road traffic accidents for both northbound and southbound carriageways of the M6 between Junctions 6 and 20 for each of the last five years are given in the following table. Also shown is the number of these accidents that involved a heavy goods vehicle (HGV). Separate figures for foreign registered HGVs were not recorded prior to 2005. A single accident may involve more than one HGV.
	
		
			   Measure  Fatal  Serious  Slight  Total 
			 2003 Accidents on the M6, between 14 40 485 539 
			  Junctions 6 and 20 Accidents involving a HGV 7 17 185 209 
			 2004 Accidents on the M6, between 6 32 557 595 
			  Junctions 6 and 20 Accidents involving a HGV 5 13 223 241 
			 2005 Accidents on the M6, between Junctions 6 and 20 8 37 461 506 
			  Accidents involving a HGV 3 20 177 200 
			  Number of HGVs involved in accidents - UK Reg. 3 16 116 135 
			  Number of HGVs involved in accidents - Foreign 0 5 66 71 
			 2006 Accidents on the M6, between Junctions 6 and 20 13 42 407 462 
			  Accidents involving a HGV 7 16 154 177 
			  Number of HGVs involved in accidents - UK Reg. 6 12 102 120 
			  Number of HGVs involved in accidents - Foreign 2 6 55 63 
			 2007 Accidents on the M6, between Junctions 6 and 20 6 37 409 452 
			  Accidents involving a HGV 3 18 152 173 
			  Number of HGVs involved in accidents - UK Reg. 3 16 101 120 
			  Number of HGVs involved in accidents - Foreign 1 4 57 62

M6: Accidents

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many  (a) serious and  (b) fatal accidents there were on the M6 through North Staffordshire in each of the last two years; how many accidents there were in total in each category on motorways in England, broken down by region; and if he will make an assessment of the safety of the M6 in North Staffordshire in comparison with equivalent roads elsewhere.

Paul Clark: For motorways, the Highways Agency records personal injury accident data on a 'motorway junction to motorway junction' basis.
	The following table details the number of serious and fatal accidents that occurred in each of the last two years, between Junction 14 of the M6 Motorway in north Staffordshire and Junction 18 in south Cheshire.
	
		
			  Severity of accident  2006  2007 
			 Serious 10 12 
			 Fatal 4 3 
			 Total 14 15 
		
	
	The following table details the number of serious and fatal accidents that occurred in each of the last two years, split across the Agency's regional boundaries for the entire motorway network in England.
	
		
			   Fatal  Serious 
			  Region  2006  2007  Total  2006  2007  Total 
			 EM 3 5 8 12 25 37 
			 NW 25 28 53 133 133 266 
			 SE 41 33 74 230 252 482 
			 SW 11 16 27 39 40 79 
			 WM 27 18 45 108 96 204 
			 YNE 20 10 30 86 83 169 
			 E 19 21 40 99 102 201 
			 Total 146 131 277 707 731 1,438 
		
	
	The national average personal injury accident rate for motorways in England for the last two years is 8.43 per hundred million vehicle kilometres. The corresponding accident rate for the M6 between Junctions 14 and 18 is 7.8 per hundred million vehicle kilometres, which is below the national average.

Mentally Ill Staff

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information his Department has gathered on the effect of its policies and practices on the recruitment, development and retention of employees with mental illnesses within  (a) his Department and  (b) the public sector bodies for which he has responsibility; and what use has been made of that information.

Geoff Hoon: Under the Disability Equality Duty introduced by the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, the Department and its public sector bodies are required to publish and implement disability equality schemes. These are plans setting out how they will carry out the Disability Equality Duty, monitor, and report on progress. In particular this includes their arrangements for gathering information on the effect of their policies and practices on the recruitment, development and retention of their disabled employees, including those with mental health conditions, and making use of that information.
	The Department for Transport has set out in its Disability Equality Scheme (2006-09) specific actions to meet its obligations under the Disability Equality Duty. The Department is currently reviewing its progress against these actions and intends to report publicly in 2009.
	The public sector bodies sponsored by the Department that are subject to these requirements are responsible for publishing and implementing their own disability equality schemes.
	In line with the Disability Equality Duty, a report is published every three years to show: progress towards disability equality in my policy sector; and proposals for co-ordination of future work by relevant public authorities within my policy sector. These reports will show what impact, if any, policies have had on the recruitment and retention of disabled people including those with mental health condition, and set out proposals to address any gaps identified when establishing the progress made across the policy sector. The first report must be published by December 2008.

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made on the introduction of electronic motor insurance certificates; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The issue is being dealt with urgently and we intend to have regulations in place next spring.

Motor Vehicles: Licensing

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many foreign-registered motor vehicles are estimated to be in the United Kingdom.

Jim Fitzpatrick: It is estimated that, in 2007, 0.5 per cent. of traffic in Great Britain was accounted for by foreign registered vehicles.

Motor Vehicles: Licensing

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his most recent estimate is of the number of people driving without a licence  (a) in London and  (b) nationally.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 28 October 2008
	The most recent estimate is that 1.6 per cent. of all drivers use a motor vehicle on the road without a valid driving licence. This figure was published in a joint DfT/DEFRA/ACPO report, Roads Policing Operation V79—National Driver and Vehicle Compliance Check. The report, published on 8 September 2006, was placed in the House of Commons Library and is also available at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/vehicles/roadspolicing operationv79/
	This is a national figure and there are no regional figures.

Plain English

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many documents produced by his Department were submitted to the Plain English Campaign for approval for Crystal Mark status in each year since 2005; and how many documents achieved such status in each year.

Geoff Hoon: The Department for Transport publishes guidance for staff on writing in plain English. The number of documents formally submitted to the Plain English Campaign (PEC) for approval for Crystal Mark status since 2005 is given in the following table.
	
		
			   Department/agency  Submitted to PEC  Achieving Crystal Mark 
			 2005 DFT central 6 6 
			  Highways Agency 64 64 
			 
			 2006 DFT central 6 6 
			  Highways Agency 62 62 
			  DVLA 1 1 
			 2007 DFT central 6 6 
			  Highways Agency 63 63 
			  DVLA 116 52 
			 
			 2008 DFT central 4 4 
			  Highways Agency 45 45 
			  DVLA 80 25

Railways: EU Law

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2008,  Official Report, column 423W, on railways: EU law, what recent correspondence he has received from the European Commission on implementation of the First Railway Package; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: The UK received a letter of formal notice dated 26 June 2008 for alleged non-conformity with the First Railway Package from the European Commission. In our reply to the Commission of 8 August 2008, the Government stated their belief that our procedures are fully consistent with Directive 2001/14/EC.
	We are awaiting a response from the Commission to the UK's letter of 8 August 2008.

Railways: Fares

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average change in rail fares was in each year since 1997.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not hold this information. However the Office of Rail Regulation tracks fares nationally and publishes these by sector and whether fares are regulated or unregulated. This is available from the ORR website at:
	http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1528

Railways: Fares

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average price of a peak rail fare from London to  (a) Birmingham,  (b) Manchester,  (c) Newcastle,  (d) Cardiff and  (e) Glasgow was in each year since 1997.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not hold this information. However, the Office of Rail Regulation tracks fares nationally and publishes these by sector (long distance, South East and Regional) and by whether fares are regulated or unregulated. This is available from the ORR website at:
	http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1528

Railways: Scotland

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has met representatives of the Scottish Executive since his appointment to discuss high speed rail.

Paul Clark: To date, the Secretary of State has not met representatives of the Scottish Government to discuss high speed rail.

Railways: South West

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many  (a) new carriages and  (b) additional trains there will be in the South West under the Government's proposed rolling stock strategy.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport's rolling stock plan of January 2008 stated that 52 additional Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) vehicles would be allocated to the First Great Western Franchise covering the Thames Valley and the Bristol area, the latter to receive vehicles transferred from London Midland. It noted that these plans were not prescriptive and were subject to a development process within the industry. Discussions with First Great Western are still at an early stage.

Rescue Services: Hope Cove

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Hope Cove lifeboat is to be taken out of service on 2 November; for what reasons there was no local consultation with Marlborough parish council and others prior to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's decision to take the boats out of service; and if he will instruct the agency to defer decommissioning the boat until such local consultation has taken place.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 29 October 2008
	In the interest of the safety of the volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officer crew and those they could be called upon to rescue, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency boat at Hope Cove has been available only for use under strict operational limits. Now, with the onset of the autumn season and the associated weather conditions and sea states, although the boat will remain in Hope Cove, it is unlikely that it would be able to operate in compliance with those limits over the next few months.
	No decision has been taken about the future of the boat, and none will be taken, until there has been a local consultation with interested parties including Marlborough parish council.

Rescue Services: Voluntary Organisations

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what role his Department has in the co-ordination of volunteer  (a) sea and  (b) mountain search and rescue operations; how many such organisations are affected by his Department's co-ordination; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether his Department records the number of  (a) sea and  (b) mountain search and rescue operations undertaken by volunteer organisations across the UK.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 27 October 2008
	Responsibility for civil aeronautical and maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) policy rests with the Department for Transport. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency provides a response and co-ordination service for maritime SAR, counter pollution and salvage. This includes the mobilisation, organisation and tasking of adequate resources, including volunteers, to an incident.
	In respect of volunteer organisations co-ordinated, the MCA can call upon 3,500 Voluntary Coastguard Rescue Officers (comprising 390 Teams) and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution has 4,500 lifeboat crew and 4,000 shore side staff at over 230 lifeboat stations. In addition, there are a number of small local organisations who are part of the declared facility system that can also be utilised.
	While the MCA records information on the assets it tasks in any civil maritime search and rescue incident, it does not allow for easy retrieval of statistical information on the organisations involved.
	The Police Service, through its command infrastructure, co-ordinates land based SAR operations. Voluntary inland Search and Rescue organisations including the mountain rescue volunteers are formed to provide SAR services on land. Operationally, each team is responsible to, and works under the aegis of a co-ordinating authority. This will normally be the police, who collate their own statistical records.

Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will review the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 to take account of technological developments; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989, Statutory Instrument 1989/1796, is the base set of road vehicle fighting requirements.
	The SI is reviewed from time to time in the light of technological and other developments, and amendments are made as necessary. A review has recently taken place and public consultation on a series of amendments, including for example new requirements regarding the fitment of retro-reflective material, concluded on 9 October. We aim to have the revised Regulations in place by 10 October 2009.

Tintwistle Hollingworth and Mottram Bypass

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what instructions have been given to  (a) the North West Leaders' Forum and  (b) the Highways Agency on capping costs on the Mottram-Tintwistle bypass at £270m; and what other road schemes have been similarly capped in the last 12 months.

Paul Clark: The Highways Agency has not been instructed to cap the costs of the A57/A628 Mottram-Tintwistle Bypass scheme or any other road schemes in the last 12 months. In July 2008, the Secretary of State published new cost estimates for the Highways Agency major schemes and the range estimate for this scheme was stated to be between £223 million and £315 million, which gives a central estimate of £270 million.
	This scheme, which is designated as a regional scheme, was prioritised by the North West region in the 2006 Regional Funding Allocation process. Earlier this year, all regions were asked to review the prioritisation and affordability of their schemes and to submit their advice in early 2009 and I look forward to receiving that advice.

DEFENCE

Atomic Weapons Establishment

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much capital spending was drawn down at the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston in each of the last three years; and how much is planned to be drawn down in 2008-09.

Quentin Davies: AWE has incurred capital expenditure of £171 million in 2005-06, £302 million in 2006-07 and £500 million in 2007-08.
	For 2008-09, the capital expenditure currently planned is £384 million.

Defence Training

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the value for money of defence training contracts; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: MOD lets a large number of contracts across training sites. It undertakes regular value-for-money analysis of contracts as a matter of routine.

Afghanistan

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Afghanistan.

John Hutton: Afghanistan continues to present significant security challenges, particularly, in the south and east of the country where the Taliban continue to use intimidation and violence against the local population. In Helmand, progress has been made along the Helmand River valley and we are expanding control with the Afghan Security Forces taking an ever more active role.

Afghanistan

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Afghanistan.

John Hutton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for South-West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous).

Afghanistan

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what limits have been placed on the number of parcels that can be sent to members of the armed forces serving in Afghanistan under the free parcels service; upon what basis these limits were established; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: No limits have been placed on the number of packages that can be sent to members of HM forces deployed to Afghanistan under the Families Free Mail Service.

Afghanistan

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the demand for the free parcel service to members of the armed forces serving in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: Historical evidence over the last decade has indicated that, where a mail service has operated with a limited free christmas service, the volume of mail to personnel on operations has been broadly 4kg of mail per person per month outside of a changeover period; increasing to 5kg per person per month during the changeover and 12kg per person per month over the Christmas period.
	Since the introduction of the Enduring Families Free Mail Service in September 2007, however, the volumes of mail for both the steady state and the changeover periods have increased by 40 per cent. overall, but for Afghanistan it has increased by 100 per cent.

Astute Class Submarines

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Astute class submarines he plans to order; and if he will make a statement.

Quentin Davies: It remains our plan to order seven Astute submarines.

Astute Class Submarines

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will take steps to enable the design and build for the new Astute class submarines to allow for the retrofitting of conventional intercontinental ballistic missiles.

John Hutton: The Astute class submarines are not physically large enough to accommodate intercontinental ballistic missiles, and therefore there is no possibility that they will be retrofitted.

Academy: Colchester

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had on the establishment in Colchester of an academy with military involvement for children of civilians.

Kevan Jones: As the hon. Member is aware, in England, schools and the education of children are the responsibilities of local authorities and the Department for Children, Schools and Families. However, as my predecessor made clear when he met the hon. Member in February this year, as an interested party Colchester Garrison continue to be kept informed by Essex county council on their plans for schools in the area.

Replacement Troops

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is for replacing battle casualties in units on operations.

Bob Ainsworth: When our forces suffer casualties in both Iraq and Afghanistan there is generally sufficient capacity within the size of force deployed for operations to be maintained.
	Trained replacements can be requested and deployed forward from the United Kingdom as required.

Russia

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the military implications for NATO of recent developments in Russian security policy.

John Hutton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for North-West Cambridgeshire (Mr. Vara).

Maritime Reserves

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the next Commander Maritime Reserves will be a regular Royal Navy officer or a Royal Naval Reserve officer.

Bob Ainsworth: The next Commander Maritime Reserves will be a regular Royal Navy officer.

Iraq

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Iraq.

John Hutton: The overall security situation in Iraq is much improved, with violence down to levels last seen in 2004. The transfer on 29 October of security responsibility for Wasit province to Provincial Iraqi Control demonstrates the continuing improvement in security across the country. 13 of Iraq's provinces have now been transferred to Iraqi control.
	As the Defence Committee acknowledged in its report in July, the security situation in Basra has been transformed. I saw the dramatically improved security for myself when I visited Basra recently. The Iraqi security forces have complete freedom of movement, and I was able to meet Basrawis in a café in the centre of the city.

Iraq and Afghanistan

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many troops are serving in  (a) Iraq and  (b) Afghanistan.

John Hutton: As at 3 November 2008, the endorsed force levels for Southern Iraq and Afghanistan are around 4,100 and 8,000 respectively.
	The precise number of personnel in theatre at any one time fluctuates on a daily basis for a variety of reasons, including mid-tour rest and recuperation, temporary absence for training, evacuation for medical reasons, the roulement of forces and other factors.

Gurkhas

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the role of the Gurkhas in the Army.

Kevan Jones: The Gurkhas continue to provide a key element of the British Army, fulfilling a number of roles including infantry, engineers, signals and logistics. The role of the Gurkhas was last assessed as part of the Future Army Structure review in 2004. This work was further reviewed in 2005 and 2006 to bring the structure of the two Gurkha Infantry Battalions in line with the rest of the British Army.

Air Force

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the future strike capability of the Royal Air Force.

Quentin Davies: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell).

Armed Forces: Alcoholic Drinks

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how  (a) his Department's current alcohol strategy and  (b) the forthcoming Joint Service Publication incorporating his Department's alcohol strategy is implemented or to be implemented by the (i) Army, (ii) Navy and (iii) Royal Air Force; and what distinction is made of the implementation in each of the armed forces.

Kevan Jones: The MOD's overall strategy, which will be consolidated in the forthcoming Joint Service Publication, is adapted by each service to meet its particular needs. All three services operate a comprehensive programme to prevent and, where necessary, deal with the harmful effects of alcohol misuse. These programmes include wide-ranging alcohol awareness and education, incorporating regular and mandatory briefs supported by a range of media such as posters, information booklets and DVDs. There are also regulations to limit the availability and consumption of alcohol, supported as necessary by the threat of disciplinary action. Medical treatment, welfare support, intervention and rehabilitation programmes operate for those where misuse of alcohol has become a concern or a serious problem.

Armed Forces: Alcoholic Drinks

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research he has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated to inform his Department's forthcoming Joint Service Publication incorporating his Department's alcohol strategy.

Kevan Jones: There has been no research commissioned specifically to inform the forthcoming Joint Service Publication incorporating the Department's alcohol strategy. Such research as has been undertaken and evaluated formed part of wider health studies commissioned from the King's Centre for Military Health Research, particularly in regard to those who have served in conflict zones.

Armed Forces: Health Services

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average waiting time for secondary healthcare of each specialty for service personnel was at the latest date for which information is available; and how many service personnel have been waiting more than 18 weeks for secondary healthcare of each specialty in  (a) the UK,  (b) Scotland and  (c) Wales.

Kevan Jones: holding answer 11 March 2008
	Defence Medical Services (DMS) only monitor waiting times for service personnel treated at NHS hospitals hosting Ministry of Defence Hospital Units (MDHUs)(1) and at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM)(2). Treatment at these hospitals is carried out under the MOD's Accelerated Access scheme and accounts for approximately 60 per cent. of our secondary health care requirement. The remaining 40 per cent. of service personnel are treated at NHS hospitals around the UK and waiting times could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The MOD measures the percentage of patients seen at hospitals that host MDHU's and RCDM within four week periods for their first outpatients appointment, and the percentage seen within six week periods as elective inpatients, as the following tables show. The latest figures available are for Quarter 3 2007-08 (September to December), broken down by the major specialities shown.
	
		
			  Percentage of patients seen within 4 week periods for first outpatients appointment 
			  Speciality  4 weeks  8 weeks  12 weeks  13+ weeks  Total number of outpatients 
			 General surgery 53 38 8 0 1,499 
			 Orthopaedics 53 28 15 4 3,656 
			 ENT 44 42 13 2 1,817 
			 Oral surgery 65 27 8 1 1,311 
			 Ophthalmology 52 25 16 8 764 
			 General medicine 47 39 13 1 904 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage of patients measured by six week periods until becoming an elective inpatient 
			  Speciality  0-6 weeks  7-13 weeks  14-26 weeks  26+ weeks  Total number of inpatients 
			 General surgery 47 27 22 4 1,114 
			 Orthopaedics 47 33 17 2 2,001 
			 ENT 49 32 17 2 513 
			 Oral surgery 73 21 6 0 964 
			 Ophthalmology 43 44 10 3 146 
			 General medicine 69 25 3 2 355 
		
	
	These figures are for England as there are presently no MDHUs in Scotland and Wales.
	In the case of serious battle casualties, the preparations for their immediate treatment upon their return to the UK are made during their aeromedical evacuation.
	(1) Ministry of Defence Hospital Units (MDHUs) have been established within NHS hospitals at Derriford, Frimley Park, Peterborough, Portsmouth and Northallerton.
	(2) The Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM) is located within the University Hospital Birmingham Foundation Trust (UHBFT).

Armed Forces: Housing

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has to tackle the issue of empty service properties.

Kevan Jones: We have initiatives in place to reduce the number of empty service family accommodation properties. These include bringing forward decisions on the future use of sites. This will help to clarify the requirement for associated service family accommodation. We are also seeking to dispose of surplus properties more quickly.
	At two sites, service family accommodation for which there is no medium-term requirement is being made available to the public on short-term leases.
	With around 20,000 moves in the UK each year, there will always be a need for a management margin of empty properties to ensure that homes are available when service families need them.

Armed Forces: Intimidation

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps have been taken in response to the recommendation of the Deepcut Review to issue to each recruit an induction booklet explaining procedures and sanctions relating to bullying and harassment.

Bob Ainsworth: All recruits are given information on arrival including: what is expected of them and how they can be expected to be treated; definitions of bullying and harassment; and what to do if it is experienced; and contact details for sources of support and advice.
	The Royal Navy issues the booklet 'Diversity, Equality and You', the Army issues the booklet 'The ARTD Code of Conduct and Behaviour for Recruits' and the RAF issues the booklet 'Combating Bullying and Harassment in the Royal Air Force'.

Armed Forces: Intimidation

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints by new recruits to the armed forces of bullying or harassment were  (a) made,  (b) upheld and  (c) not upheld in 2007.

Bob Ainsworth: Officials are collating the information requested. When this work is complete I will write to my hon. Friend.

Armed Forces: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what budget has been allocated to the armed forces for dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder  (a) in conflict zones,  (b) on leave and  (c) on discharge from the forces in 2008-09.

John Hutton: Funding for the treatment of mental health conditions, of which post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is only one (and not the predominant) diagnosis, is provided from a number of budget areas within the Ministry of Defence.
	In Iraq and Afghanistan, we deploy highly skilled and experienced uniformed mental health nurses to provide the necessary in-theatre care and treatment for all our personnel. Funding for these personnel, and all associated treatment costs, are provided from overall operational budgets.
	In the UK, the majority of treatment is provided on an out-patient basis, through our 15 military Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMH) across the UK (plus satellite centres overseas), and funding for these falls to the Single Service Commands. It is not possible to separate out costs from overall unit medical budgets.
	In the relatively few cases where in-patient care is required, it is currently provided under external contract. In the last financial year (2007-08), the total contract costs were £3.87 million. Within this total figure, the costs of treating patients who were admitted with a primary working diagnosis of PTSD was £388,000. Note that PTSD can be caused by a range of circumstances and final diagnosis might differ from the initial assessment.
	Once individuals are discharged from the armed forces, responsibility for their health care falls to the NHS—this has been the policy of successive Governments since 1948. There are three main exceptions. First, the Reserves Mental Health Programme (RMHP) provides a mental health assessment plus, if necessary, out-patient treatment at a DCMH, to any current or former member of the UK Volunteer and Regular Reserves who has been demobilised since 1 January 2003 following an overseas operational deployment as a reservist, and who believes that the deployment may have adversely affected their mental health. Medical staffs who provide these assessments and treatment do so as part of their overall duties and are not uniquely engaged on the RMHP; it is not therefore possible to provide an overall cost of the programme without incurring disproportionate cost.
	Second, the Medical Assessment Programme (MAP) based at St. Thomas' Hospital, London also offers help for veterans with mental health symptoms. Originally established in 1993 for veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf conflict, the MAP is now available for those with operational service from 1982 (including veterans of the Falklands campaign). Veterans who have recently deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan may also attend if their Service Medical Officer or General Practitioner thinks it would help. The total costs of this programme could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Finally, the MOD funds war pensioners undergoing treatment at the Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society ('Combat Stress') homes. MOD gave Combat Stress £2.5 million in individual fees in 2006-07 and agreed, in October 2007, to a phased increase of 45 per cent. to reflect the build-up of staff and capability.

Armed Forces: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of former members of the armed forces diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: The healthcare of veterans is principally a matter for the national health service and the four UK health Departments, reflecting the need to provide expert care close to an individual's home and family. Information has not been collected on how many former members of the armed forces were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in each of the last five years. However, a sample survey on psychiatric morbidity is currently being carried out by the Office for National Statistics; this includes questions allowing identification of veterans, the time at which they served and whether any traumatic experience that may have caused their condition took place in service. This will allow a clearer understanding of the extent and nature of veterans' mental health problems. In addition, in 2003 we commissioned Kings College London to undertake a study of the health outcomes for some 20,000 personnel deployed to Iraq or in a non-deployed comparator group. This includes analysis of mental health outcomes which so far shows that generally there is not a higher incidence of mental health problems among those deployed though there were some specific areas of concern, notably among reservists; we have taken steps to address this by offering those with operational service since 2003 access to defence medical services where appropriate, for assessment and treatment.
	We will continue to monitor carefully the research, which has now been extended to cover in addition personnel deployed to Afghanistan.

Armed Forces: Postal Services

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many parcels sent to members of the armed forces serving in operations abroad under the free parcel service were  (a) delayed and  (b) destroyed in the last period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: Between September 2007 and August 2008, BFPO customer services has recorded 234 cases where customers have reported lost/damaged/delayed mail under the Families Free Mail Service, against an assessed throughput of 7.2 million items of mail under this service.

Armed Forces: Security

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received on the broadcast of the Undercover Soldier programme by the British Broadcasting Corporation; what measures are in place to control covert recording of  (a) sensitive and  (b) defence establishments; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: We have received fewer than 10 representations since the broadcast of the Undercover Soldier programme by the British Broadcasting Corporation.
	A range of measures are in place for the protective security of MOD establishments. These include perimeter and access control measures to prevent unauthorised access.
	Departmental guidance instructs all MOD civilian and Service personnel (including recruits) on the risks and threats associated with image and audio recording and of the appropriate countermeasures. The use of any device to capture images is prohibited on MOD premises and, unless specifically authorised, privately owned mobile phones are not to be used to capture images of MOD information, equipments, personnel or activities.

Armed Forces: Training

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the status is of the behavioural standards identified in the Defence Instructor Handbook; if he will introduce a code of practice throughout the training estate to ensure that breach of such standards is admissible in evidence in a charge of ill-treatment of subordinates; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the Defence Instructor Handbook.

Bob Ainsworth: The behavioural standards identified in the Defence Instructor Handbook as the Defence Code of Practice for Instructors are currently presented as a guide to prohibited practices between instructors and student and are applicable across the initial training environment. Failure to adhere to the code would be viewed as a professional failing which could be addressed through the application of appropriate administrative action or dealt with as a disciplinary matter. A breach of the code could be used as evidence to support a charge. I will place copies of the Handbook in the Library of the House.

Armed Forces: Training

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps have been taken in response to recommendation 8 of the Blake review for a regular Army Training and Recruitment Agency audit of the physical and psychological environment of the training estate to be conducted.

Bob Ainsworth: The Army Recruiting and Training Division (ARTD), formerly the Army Training and Recruitment Agency, uses the army assurance framework to meet the audit requirements of recommendation 8. The approach is designed to support a culture of continuous improvement and addresses all aspects of training including the trainee learning experience. This includes regular inspections by various parties, as follows:
	1st Party Assurance—completed at unit level under the direction of the unit commanding officer either weekly or monthly at the discretion of the commanding officer. The results of these inspections are reported annually to HQ ARTD.
	2nd Party Assurance—completed by the Directorate of Individual Training (DITC) and the Adjutant General's Individual Training Inspectorate. The MOD's Directorate General of Training and Education coordinates all 2nd Party audits throughout the armed forces. A unit can expect to be audited by each organisation every two years
	3rd Party Assurance—Completed by Ofsted usually every three years, at as little as 24 hours' notice.
	The audit of the physical training estate is conducted through the integrated estate management plans (IEMPs). Since 2003 the MOD has improved some 20,000 single living bed spaces for the armed forces, and this will increase to 50,000 by 2013. In total the MOD plans to spend some £8.4 billion on living accommodation over the next decade, which includes £3 billion on delivering new build and upgraded accommodation. Phase One trainees are housed in dormitories which are partitioned into three separate areas, each with four beds, with individual wardrobes and storage cupboards providing a degree of individual privacy. On each floor there are four dormitories, with dedicated sanitary facilities, utility rooms, baggage stores, and communal and recreation areas. A platoon office and a 'duty of care' en suite bedroom are located on each floor, to ensure good visibility of personnel passing through the communal areas.

Armed Forces: Vetting

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Criminal Records Bureau checks have been conducted in connection with the appointment of instructors in each of the armed services; and how many and what proportion of appointments have been blocked as a result of vetting procedures.

Bob Ainsworth: In addition to the previous categories of personnel (service and civilian) for whom Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks could be made, since July 2007 we have been able to carry out CRB checks on those who care for, train, supervise or are solely in charge of service personnel aged under 18 in the armed forces, and on the supervisors or managers of such individuals.
	Centrally held information on behalf of the Royal Navy and Army does not separately identify instructors from other categories of personnel who are also checked. The number of checks of RAF personnel which have been conducted in connection with the appointment of instructors. This number is 443, of whom five have been blocked as a result of the vetting procedures (just over 1 per cent.). A further 100 RAF checks are currently being processed.

China: Military Alliances

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent representations he has received from the Chinese Government on military co-operation.

Bob Ainsworth: We have received no such representations.
	However, as I said in my answer to the hon. Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) on 6 October 2008,  Official Report, column 242W, my right hon. Friend's predecessor met the Deputy Chief of the People's Liberation Army General Staff in June this year and discussed a range of issues relating to Afghanistan.
	This meeting fell within the bounds of the Government's policy on our bilateral defence engagement with China, which I explained in detail during the Adjournment debate on 28 October 2008,  Official Report, column 225WH.

Colchester Garrison: Housing

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether service personnel at Colchester Garrison have been accommodated in hotels in the last month.

Bob Ainsworth: Some service personnel were temporarily accommodated in hotels in the last month due to emergency works at the Colchester Garrison Warrant Officer's and Sergeants' Mess. The maximum number of personnel affected at any one time was 27.

Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the proposal to establish a Co-operative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence under the auspices of NATO; and what the terms of reference are for this Centre of Excellence.

Bob Ainsworth: The United Kingdom is fully supportive of the Estonian Cyber Defence initiative and their endeavours in this important area.
	NATO describes the Mission and Focus of the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (Estonia) as:
	Improving Cyber Defence interoperability within the NATO Network Enabled Capability (NNEC) environment;
	Counter Cyber Defence doctrine and concept development and their validation;
	Enhance Information Security and cyber defence education, awareness, and training;
	Provide cyber defence support for experimentation (including on-site) for experimentation;
	Analysing the legal aspects of cyber defence.
	 Source:
	http://transnet.act.nato.int/WISE/TNCC/CentresofE/CCD
	Given the need to coordinate Cyber Defence with a number of other Government Departments and Allies, our preferred means of support is via virtual participation, rather than attach personnel permanently to Estonia. The United Kingdom is not a founding signatory nation to the NATO Centre of Excellence but we will keep our position under review.

Defence Equipment

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects the short examination of the equipment programme, announced by the Minister of State for the Armed Forces on 19 June 2008, to be completed; whether he plans to publish the findings; and if he will make a statement.

Quentin Davies: The examination of the equipment programme is continuing. I envisage that the results of the examination will provide an important input to our 2009 planning round, which will be completed in spring 2009. We will announce significant decisions affecting projects as soon as we are able to do so.

Defence Estates: Animal Welfare

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Minister in his Department has responsibility for animal welfare on the defence estate.

Kevan Jones: As the Under-Secretary of State and Minister for veterans I have responsibility for the welfare of military working animals.
	Farmers who hold a tenancy for land on the defence estate are responsible for the welfare of their animals.

Defence: Internet

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the Government's policy is on  (a) cyber defence and  (b) cyber warfare.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 22 October 2008
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 April 2008,  Official Report, column 267W, to the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies). It has been the longstanding practice of successive Governments not to comment on security and operational matters of this type.

Departmental Information Officers

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many press and communications officers are employed by  (a) his Department,  (b) its non-departmental public bodies and  (c) its agencies;
	(2)  how many press and communications officers are employed by  (a) his Department,  (b) its non-departmental public bodies and  (c) its agencies.

Kevan Jones: Across the Department a variety of people are involved in communications often as a secondary function or in a very limited local way. There are no definitive central records available and exact data on all these individuals could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	There are 107 people, both civilian and serving military, in press or communications functions in the Directorate General Media and Communication (DGMC), the central MOD communications organisation. This includes staff based across the UK in Regional Press Offices often primarily supporting the armed forces with local media. This also includes MOD press officers deployed with the armed forces on operations to assist journalists in theatre.
	The White Book, the Central Office of Information (COI) directory of communications staff in Government Departments and agencies, provides details of a further 157 people in full time communications posts outside of DGMC (as of the September 2008 edition). These are working in single service commands, major civilian top level budget (TLB) areas such as Defence Estates and Defence Equipment and Support and Trading funds such as the Meteorological Office and the UK Hydrographic Office.
	The MOD does not hold central lists of communicators employed by non-departmental public bodies.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent on entertainment by his Department in 2007-08; and how much of that sum was accounted for by  (a) food,  (b) alcohol,  (c) staffing and  (d) accommodation.

Kevan Jones: The MOD's expenditure both service and civilian on official entertainment in 2007-08 is recorded in the MOD's annual report and accounts (HC 850-I), Volume II, published on 21 July 2008. Copies are available in the Library of the House and the document is available online at:
	http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/AnnualReports/MODAnnual Reports0708/
	The MOD's policy, rules and guidance on the provision of official entertainment are set out in chapter 45 of Joint Services Publication 462 (Financial Management Policy Manual), copies of which are available in the Library of the House.

Departmental Official Visits

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent on overnight accommodation by his Department's civil servants in the last 12 months.

Kevan Jones: In the 12 months ended 20 October, the costs claimed by MOD civil servants for overnight accommodation were approximately £17.4 million. This excludes Trading Fund Agencies which fall outside the Departmental Accounting boundary.
	The figure of £17.4 million consists of £13.5 million in UK and £3.8 million overseas. These costs relate to a total of 218,569 nights in the UK and 52,624 nights overseas. That equates to an average claim of about £65 a night for accommodation in UK and £87 overseas.
	Hotel bookings and travel for both civilian and service staff are usually made through the mandated Defence Hotel Reservation Service.

Departmental Security

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many departmental security passes were reported lost in the last 12 months.

Bob Ainsworth: Security passes are issued at local level and figures for lost/stolen passes are not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, details of lost/stolen service identity cards, which are used by service personnel as a security pass for site access purposes, are held centrally and are available from 2004.
	The number of lost/stolen service identity cards for the last 12 months (1 September 2007 to 30 September 2008) is 9,667. It is not possible to differentiate between lost or stolen cards.

Ex-servicemen: Criminal Records

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research is being conducted or evaluated by his Department into the number of criminal convictions of former members of the armed forces; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: The Ministries of Defence and Justice are working together to collect up-to-date and authoritative data on ex-service personnel in prison. We plan to conduct a survey of the current position and, for the longer term, collect data on the military service of all those entering prison. We are also looking at ways in which we can improve our understanding of the reasons why veterans are in prison and the extent to which their military service may be a factor.

Ex-servicemen: Health Services

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support is available to former members of the armed forces who, consequent on leaving the armed forces, are thought to be experiencing problems with  (a) drugs and  (b) alcohol; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: For those leaving the armed forces with an alcohol or drug problem, the three service welfare organisations can signpost to the sources of help that are available after discharge. The UK Departments of Health are generally responsible for the provision, through the national health service, of help to those experiencing problems with drugs and alcohol, including veterans.
	However, the Ministry of Defence also provides advice and support to former members of the armed forces through the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency including its Veterans Welfare Service; it can be contacted through it's a free helpline and website. The ex-service charities supplement the various forms of support by Government with their own help for veterans.

Ex-servicemen: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what resources are available to ensure that former members of the armed forces receive post-traumatic stress disorder counselling where necessary.

Kevan Jones: In line with long-standing practice, the health care of veterans is primarily a matter for the NHS which, evidence indicates, meets the needs of a large proportion of those with mental health problems. We are aware that some veterans seek a service that can provide an expert cultural understanding of the military context of their problems. To address this, the Department is working with the four UK health departments in piloting a new expert mental health care service for veterans in six NHS trusts across the UK. The NHS sites undertaking pilots are: Stafford, Camden and Islington, Cardiff, Bishop Auckland, Plymouth and Scotland. In addition, for those veterans and health professionals not in a pilot catchment area, we have expanded our Medical Assessment Programme (MAP), based at St. Thomas' hospital, London, to include assessment of veterans with mental health symptoms who have operational service since 1982 by a military psychiatrist with considerable service experience. Where appropriate, the Department also funds care at the centres run by the charity Combat Stress for those veterans in receipt of a war pension on the basis that their condition has been accepted as attributable to service.

Germany: NATO

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with his German counterpart on Germany's fulfilment of its NATO obligations.

John Hutton: I met Dr. Jung, the German Defence Minister, at the meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in Budapest on 9-10 October, where all Ministers reaffirmed the importance of providing the necessary forces for operations and of investing in the capabilities NATO needs.

Gulf of Aden: Piracy

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 23 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 475-76W, on Gulf of Aden: piracy, which Departments were involved in the review of the Government's stance on piracy; which geographical regions the review covered; and what its main conclusions were.

Bob Ainsworth: The Government have looked at what more can be done to counter the growing problem of piracy off the Horn of Africa. The review was co-ordinated by the Cabinet Office, in consultation with the Ministry of Defence, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Home Office, The Department for Transport, the Department for International Development, the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Ministry of Justice.
	The review recognised the increased incidence of piracy in recent months off the Horn of Africa and Gulf of Aden. It noted that this is an international problem which the UK alone cannot solve and acknowledged that the UK was already supporting international efforts to counter piracy through Combined Task Force 150 and that planning was under way for both NATO and EU operations in which the UK would play a part. The review's main conclusion was that the UK should move beyond simply honouring commitments under international law to respond to individual acts of piracy, towards a more active role in countering piracy.

Gulf of Aden: Piracy

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 23 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 475-76W, on Gulf of Aden: piracy, how many Royal Navy units are in the region engaged in seeking out pirate activity; and how many incidents of contact between Royal Navy vessels and pirates have been recorded.

Bob Ainsworth: There are currently two ships in the region on operations that include counter piracy. Since August 2008 there have been three incidents of contact between Royal Navy ships and suspected pirate vessels.

Information Warfare

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the NATO  (a) cyber threat assessment and  (b) cyber defence concept.

Bob Ainsworth: NATO plans to have an operational cyber threat assessment cell by 2010 and this cell will produce NATO cyber threat assessments from that date.
	The NATO cyber defence concept was developed following the production of a cyber defence policy paper by the USA. The UK was a co-signatory to this paper, as were France and Estonia. The NATO cyber defence policy and the cyber defence concept were approved by the North Atlantic Council (NAC) earlier this year. The NATO Cyber Defence Management Authority (CDMA) was also given approval by the NAC earlier this year and the concept of operations for the CDMA are soon to be approved. The MoD assisted in the development of these documents through their drafting process to final version.

Information Warfare

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in which international organisations the UK has discussed cyber warfare or terrorism in the last three years.

Bob Ainsworth: The UK has numerous multi lateral and bi lateral agreements with a number of different countries concerning the matters involving computer network defence (including cyber warfare or terrorism). The organisations dealt with on a regular basis on this subject are NATO, the International Computer Network Defence Co-ordination Working Group (ICCWG) and the International Network Activity Team (I-NAT).

Information Warfare

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what funding was allocated by his Department to  (a) the analysis of cyber threats or warfare and  (b) the development of strategies to mitigate the impact of such threats in each of the last three years.

Bob Ainsworth: The analysis of cyber threats and the development of subsequent mitigation strategies are addressed in many ways across a variety of programmes and projects. The information requested is therefore not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

NATO

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the viability of NATO's security guarantee towards its newest members; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: NATO Defence Ministers have met twice this autumn to consider the evolving security challenges that face the Alliance. NATO continues to underwrite the collective defence of all its allies, and the flexible military capabilities and structures it pursues enable it to respond in a timely fashion to any security threats, wherever they arise.

NATO

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects NATO to produce a new strategic concept.

John Hutton: We expect work on a new strategic concept to be commissioned at NATO's summit meeting in Strasbourg-Kehl next April.

Nuclear Disarmament

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will meet the Parliamentary All-Party CND Group to discuss nuclear disarmament policy.

John Hutton: My predecessor met the Parliamentary All-Party CND Group on 21 July 2008, explaining and discussing in detail the Government's position on a wide variety of nuclear issues. I would, however, be happy to meet the Group in due course.

Peacekeeping Operations

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost has been of operations in  (a) Iraq and  (b) Afghanistan in the last 12 months.

John Hutton: MOD identifies the costs of operations in terms of the net additional costs it has incurred. The costs that the Department would have incurred regardless of the operation taking place, such as wages and salaries, are not included. Savings on activities that have not occurred because of the operation—training exercises for example—are taken into account in arriving at the net figures.
	Operational costs are calculated on an annual basis which are then audited by the National Audit Office. The last annual audited costs for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which can be found in the Notes to the Accounts of the MOD Annual Report and Accounts 2007-08 Volume II, at paragraph 2.3, pages 291/292, are:
	
		
			  £ 
			   Iraq  Afghanistan 
			 Resource costs 1,054,825 1,071,014 
			 Capital costs 402,658 433,089 
			 Total 1,457,483 1,504,103

RAF Menwith Hill: Security

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department paid to North Yorkshire Police to cover the cost of the policing of the area around RAF Menwith Hill by armed response teams and the Counter Terrorist Unit in each year from 2001 to 2007.

Bob Ainsworth: The Ministry of Defence did not pay any monies to North Yorkshire Police between 2001 and 2007 for the cost of these units at RAF Menwith Hill.

Trade Unions

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civil servants in his Department were seconded to work for  (a) trades unions and  (b) the Trades Union Congress in each year since 2003.

Kevan Jones: Data on how many civil servants were seconded to work for trade unions and the Trades Union Congress in each year since 2003 are not held centrally. Secondments are arranged locally by Business Partners and to gather this information would involve Business Partners trawling their records at disproportionate cost.

Trident Missiles

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the notice required to fire missiles from  (a) a Trident submarine on patrol and  (b) a second submarine at its berth is; and what notice is required for submarines to take to sea.

John Hutton: As set out in the White Paper 'The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent' (Cm 6994), published on 4 December 2006, a Trident submarine on patrol is normally at several days 'notice to fire'. I am withholding further information as its release would, or would be likely to, prejudice national security and defence of the UK.

USA: Military Alliances

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date the next stocktake meeting between the Government and the US Administration under the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement is scheduled to take place.

Quentin Davies: Arrangements have not been finalised but consideration is currently being given to the next stocktake meeting being held in the UK in early June 2009.

USA: Military Bases

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many instances of burglary and trespassing there have been at bases occupied and controlled by the United States Visiting Forces in the latest period for which figures are available; and at which bases.

Bob Ainsworth: The number of instances of burglary and criminal trespass, recorded by the Ministry of Defence Police at United States Visiting Forces bases, in each of the last three financial years are shown in the following tables.
	To provide the figures for each Home Department police force with a USVF base its region would incur disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Site  Number of burglaries  Number of trespasses 
			  April 2008 to October 2008   
			 RAF Mildenhall 0 1 
			
			  April 2007 to  March 2008   
			 RAF Mildenhall 1 1 
			 RAF Menwith Hill 0 1 
			 RAF Croughton 1 0 
			
			  April 2006 to  March 2007   
			 RAF Mildenhall 0 1 
			 RAF Menwith Hill 1 3 
			 RAF Alconbury 0 1 
			 RAF Lakenheath 0 9

HEALTH

Accident and Emergency Departments: Closures

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which accident and emergency departments have closed since 1997.

Ben Bradshaw: The information is not available in the format requested. National health service trusts self-report the total number of accident and emergency (A&E) services they provide against definitions provided by the Department for the three types of A&E on a quarterly basis. This includes information on the number of self-reported type 1 (major) A&E services at national and trust level.
	It is a matter for the local NHS to ensure that emergency care services are provided that are responsive to people's needs. Changes to services are a matter for local, not central decision.

Alcoholic Drinks: Health Education

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many consultation postcards were issued to the public in his Department's recent consultation on alcohol strategy;
	(2)  what the cost was of issuing consultation postcards to the public in his Department's recent consultation on alcohol strategy.

Dawn Primarolo: There were 100,000 consultation postcards printed at a cost of £7,091, and 10,000 copies of the these postcards were given to regional alcohol leads to distribute within their local areas as they deemed appropriate with the remainder given out at national and regional meetings to discuss the consultation on alcohol strategy, "Safe. Sensible. Social - Consultation on further action". A copy of this has been placed in the Library. As of 27 October 2008, approximately 1,500 postcards had been completed and returned.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated in support of the 10 per cent. target for reduction in alcohol consumption mentioned in his Department's impact assessment relating to the Government's alcohol strategy.

Dawn Primarolo: The Department has not set targets for a reduction in alcohol consumption.
	The impact assessments to the Department's consultation document 'Safe, Sensible, Social—consultation on further action' included estimates of the impact of (a) an end-frame or information to be included within alcohol advertising (resulting in an estimated at a 2.4 per cent. reduction in consumption) and (b) measures to place unit and health information on alcohol labels (direct evidence not available to show impact on consumption. However, there is reason to expect some impact and a 0.02 per cent. reduction in consumption would yield enough benefits to offset the costs involved).
	A technical appendix to the assessment explained how these estimates had been arrived and a theoretical 10 per cent. reduction in per capita alcohol consumption was chosen solely to illustrate the methodology. The impact assessments make this theoretical illustration very clear.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the cost of ambulance and paramedic journeys to treat patients where excessive alcohol consumption was a primary or secondary diagnosis was in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what proportion of ambulance and paramedic journeys related to patients requiring treatment following the consumption of excessive alcohol in each of the last five years.

Ben Bradshaw: Data are not collected centrally on the proportion of ambulance journeys that are related to excessive consumption of alcohol, or the cost of those journeys.

Ambulance Services: Airwave Service

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the original budget was for the provision of Airwave radios to the Ambulance Service, broken down by ambulance service trust; how much has been spent by each trust; and what the projected final spend is in each trust.

Ben Bradshaw: The Ambulance Radio Programme is delivering a managed service solution for digital radio communications for the 11 Ambulance Trusts in England. The programme is estimated to cost £517 million, but funds are not distributed to individual ambulance trusts as the programme is managed centrally. As at the end of October 2008, programme expenditure has been £82.2 million.
	The scope of services being provided centrally was originally based on requirements drawn up by trusts in February 2005. Any additional trust service requirements arising since then are funded by trusts themselves. To date, expenditure on new, further requirements totals £11.4 million.

Ambulance Services: Airwave Service

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the original timetable for the provision of Airwave radios to the Ambulance Service was, broken down by ambulance service trust; what the latest performance is against that timetable, broken down by trust; and when he expects full implementation to be achieved.

Ben Bradshaw: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  Trust  Service Area (Trust pre Reconfiguration)  Original service commencement date  Service commencement date or forecast date 
			 East of England Ambulance Service Essex October 2006 June 2007 
			  East Anglia September 2007 Q3 2009 
			  Beds and Herts August 2007  
			 East Midlands Ambulance Service Lincolnshire November 2006 September 2007 
			  East Midlands October 2007 Q12009 
			  Northants (part of Two Shires AS) December 2007  
			 Great Western Ambulance Service Gloucestershire March 2008 Q2 2009 
			  Avon February 2008  
			  Wiltshire April 2008  
			 Isle of Wight Isle of Wight January 2007 Q4 2008 
			 London Ambulance Service London February 2008 Q3 2009 
			 North East Ambulance Service Newcastle(1) October 2007 December 2007 
			 North West Ambulance Service Greater Manchester May 2008 Q4 2009 
			  Lanes January 2008  
			  Cumbria February 2007  
			  Mersey November 2007  
			 South East Coast Ambulance Service Kent May 2008 Q2 2009 
			  Surrey November 2006  
			  Sussex May 2007  
			 South Central Ambulance Service Hants August 2007 Q4 2009 
			  Bucks (Part of Two Shires AS) December 2007  
			  Oxfordshire May 2007  
			  Royal Berkshire May 2008  
			 South Western Ambulance Service Dorset December 2006 Q2 2009 
			  West country December 2007  
			 West Midlands Ambulance Service West Midlands December 2006 Q1 2009 
			  Shropshire April 2008  
			  Staffordshire December 2007  
			  Coventry and Warks February 2007  
			  Hereford and Worcestershire November 2006 December 2007 
			 Yorkshire Ambulance Service West Yorkshire Metropolitan March 2007 Q3 2009 
			  East and North Yorkshire July 2007  
			  South Yorkshire February 2007 December 2007 
			 (1) A second Airwave service will be introduced for the North East Ambulance Service's second control room whose location is yet to be finalised. 
		
	
	The principal cause for a later service commencement date has been the significant re-scoping and redesigning of the radio solution following the major reconfiguration of the Ambulance Trusts in 2006. This has resulted in a more resilient and flexible solution being delivered which comes about through the networking of two of the communication control system and the ability of Trust control rooms to connect to either system. It is planned that all Trusts will have full service by the end of 2009.

Ambulance Services: Airwave Service

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether Airwave radios will be provided to  (a) all ambulances,  (b) all ambulance personnel and  (c) all community first responders.

Ben Bradshaw: The centrally funded provision of airwave Tetra radios is based on the fleet sizes and other requirements of NHS ambulance trusts in February 2005. This provision allowed for radios to be installed in all A&E ambulances, rapid response vehicles, officers cars, patient transport vehicles, on motorbikes and in air ambulances. One ambulance trust has indicated a requirement for radios for community first responders. All subsequent new requirements are added to the contract, with costs met by the trusts concerned.
	Radios are not provided on 'personal issue' basis to all ambulance personnel. The A&E ambulance fleet is generally fitted with a vehicle set and two hand-portable radios for the crew of the vehicle, while single-manned vehicles are equipped with a vehicle set and a single hand-portable radio.

Baby Care Units

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average occupancy rate for neonatal units in England was in each year since 1997.

Ann Keen: The average bed occupancy rates for wards open overnight were as given in the following table. The columns are total number of beds (B), number of beds occupied on average (N), and number occupied as a percentage of the total (Percentage)
	
		
			   Intensive care: neonates  Other general and acute: neonates and children 
			   B  N  Percentage  B  N  Percentage 
			 1997-98 1,530 1,052 68.8 10,467 6,261 59.8 
			 1998-99 1,525 1,079 70.8 10,052 6,198 61.7 
			 1999-2000 1,534 1,101 71.8 9,807 5,965 60.8 
			 2000-01 1,517 1,092 72.0 9,576 5,778 60.3 
			 2001-02 1,543 1,088 70.5 9,398 5,613 59.7 
			 2002-03 1,551 1,081 69.7 9,300 5,541 59.6 
			 2003-04 1,491 1,084 72.7 9,191 5,639 61.4 
			 2004-05 1,523 1,120 73.6 8,995 5,477 60.9 
			 2005-06 1,707 1,207 70.7 8,584 5,338 62.2 
			 2006-07 1,658 1,233 74.3 8,461 5,276 62.4 
			 2007-08 1,734 1,257 72.5 8,314 5,315 63.9 
			  Source: Department of Health form KH03

Breast Cancer

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent steps his Department has taken to raise awareness of breast cancer among the general public;
	(2)  what steps his Department has taken to raise awareness among the general public that breast cancer can affect men as well as women.

Ann Keen: Raising awareness of the symptoms of cancer is a key element of the Cancer Reform Strategy. Through the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative, we will be taking forward work to improve awareness of the signs and symptoms of all cancers, including breast cancer, among men and women. We will be working to support local interventions to increase cancer symptom awareness and encourage early presentation.
	We are currently investing in the Improvement Foundation's pilot work to develop and test methods of raising awareness of breast, bowel and lung cancers in 20 of the most deprived areas in the country. Full findings are expected in 2009-10.
	The Department encourages all women to be breast aware. Our Be Breast Aware leaflet (a copy of which has been placed in the Library), produced with Cancer Research UK, sets out the signs and symptoms of breast cancer so women know what to look for.
	Male breast cancer is very rare. In England in 2005, 260 men were diagnosed with breast cancer in England compared to 38,108 women, and 77 men died from breast cancer in England compared to 10,244 women.
	We acknowledge the importance of raising men's awareness of health issues and encouraging men to take an active interest in their health. Breast Cancer Care has produced an information pack for men, "Men with breast cancer". The Department contributed towards the cost of the Men's Health Forum's "Men and Cancer" manual, published in 2004, which provides information on prevention and treatment for all cancers that affect men.

Dental Services: Manpower

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many registered NHS dentists there are in  (a) Ribble Valley,  (b) Lancashire and  (c) England.

Ann Keen: The information is not available in the format requested.
	The numbers of dentists with national health service activity during the years ending 31 March, 2007 and 2008 are available in Table G1 of Annex 3 of the 'NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2007/08' report. Information is provided by strategic health authority and by primary care trust but is not available by constituency. This information is based on the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006.
	This report has already been placed in the Library and is also available on the NHS Information Centre website at:
	http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dental0708
	The published numbers relate to headcounts and do not differentiate between full-time and part-time dentists, nor do they account for the fact that some dentists may do more NHS work than others.

Departmental ICT

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what IT projects  (a) his Department and  (b) each of its agencies is undertaking; and what the most recent estimate of (i) the cost and (ii) the completion date of each is.

Ben Bradshaw: The information technology projects currently being undertaken by the Department, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA) are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Name of organisation  Name of project  Current estimated delivery date of project  Total estimated cost of project (£000) 
			 Department of Health Ref Costs 2008 December 2008 1,227 
			 Department of Health MEDS Improvements May 2009 240 
			 Department of Health MEDBEN October 2008 1,093 
			 Department of Health Learning Management System May 2009 684 
			 Department of Health Contact March 2009 519 
			 Department of Health ACCEA July 2009 1,203 
			 Department of Health CAS October 2008 550 
			 Department of Health Delphi 2 February 2009 2,198 
			 Department of Health Business Intelligence Implementation January 2009 967 
			 Department of Health Enterprise Architecture Programme(1) March 2009 250 
			 Department of Health Health Protection Informatics Website(2) n/a (3)3,870 
			(4)2,000 
			 Department of Health Quickr (Quickplace Upgrade) January 2009 188 
			 Department of Health Centralised Security Monitoring November 2008 171 
			 Department of Health Citrix Upgrade December 2008 163 
			 Department of Health WAN Upgrade April 2009 411 
			 MHRA Sentinel Server Upgrade January 2009 3,500 
			 MHRA Sentinel Component software development June 2009 1,600 
			 MHRA Eudra GMP Linkage January 2009 320 
			 PASA Pharmacy Replacement March 2009 281 
			 (1) Funding of an additional £500,000 currently awaits approval. (2) The website is being produced and maintained as part of the Immunisation Web Programme which started in October 2004 to support the Department ongoing immunisation programme. It does not have a given end date. (3) Cost to April 2008. (4) Estimated annual cost 
		
	
	The IT projects currently being undertaken by Connecting for Health are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Name of organisation  Name of project  Current estimated delivery date of project  Total estimated cost of project ( £ billion ) 
			 Connecting for Health National Programme for IT (NPfIT) (1)— (2)12.656 
			 (1) NPfIT comprises a number of separate systems and services for which, as a whole, there is no single completion date. (2) At 2004-05 prices, including local costs, as reported by the National Audit Office in its May 2008 report on NPfIT.

Departmental NDPBs

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget for the  (a) Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and Environment Committee,  (b) Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment Committee,  (c) Medical Effects of Air Pollution Committee,  (d) Independent Reconfiguration Panel and  (e) National Joint Registry Steering Committee was in each year for the last five years.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 30 October 2008
	The Food Standards Agency pays for the Committee on Toxicity (six meetings a year) and the Department for the Committees on Carcinogenicity (COC) and Mutagenicity (three meetings a year each). The annual budget for COC in 2006 was £10,000, £12,000 in 2007 and £12,200 in 2008.
	The Secretariat to the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) is provided by the Health Protection Agency on behalf of the Department. The annual budget for COMARE was £27,300 in 2007-08, £30,000 in 2006-07 and £17,500 in 2005-06.
	The Secretariat to the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) is provided by the Health Protection Agency on behalf of the Department. The annual budget for COMEAP and its associated subgroups (currently three) was £25,000 for each of the past three years. Costs for the previous two years were not separately identified.
	Independent Reconfiguration Panel expenditure is not separately identified within departmental costs.
	The National Joint Registry Steering Committee (NJRSC) advises the National Joint Registry programme. It does not have a budget in its own right. Steering Committee members are paid expenses only. Costs for the last three years, as set out in the NJR Annual Reports, are set out in the following table. Costs for the previous two years have not been separately identified.
	
		
			  National joint registry steering committee costs 
			  April to March each year  Cost (£) 
			 2007-08 20,492.91 
			 2006-07 18,650.36 
			 2005-06 12,477.95

Departmental Private Finance Initiative

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the  (a) total value,  (b) revenue payments made to date and  (c) estimated revenue payments for the life of each private finance initiative contract was of all private finance initiative projects granted approval by his Department in each year since 1997.

Ben Bradshaw: Information on the capital value and estimated revenue payments for the lifetime of each private finance initiative contract has been placed in the Library.

Departmental Security

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many security passes have been reported  (a) lost and  (b) stolen by staff in (i) his Department and (ii) agencies sponsored by his Department in each year since 2001.

Ben Bradshaw: Information on passes lost and stolen is not held for Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency. The Department does not hold this information prior to 2006. Data on passes lost on stolen from 2006 are as follows:
	
		
			   Lost  Stolen 
			 2006 56 11 
			 2007 95 8 
			 2008 to July 48 5

Departmental Temporary Employment

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which companies were used by his Department for providing temporary staff in each of the last five years; and what the value of contracts with each such company was in each of those years.

Ben Bradshaw: The companies currently used by the Department for providing temporary staff are:
	Adecco UK Ltd.
	Big Hat Ltd.
	Brook Street UK Ltd.
	Capita Business Services Ltd.
	Carlisle Staffing plc/Tate
	COI Communications
	Hays
	Kelly Services
	KPMG
	Lifeline Personnel Ltd.
	Methods Consulting
	Office Angels
	Office for Public Management
	Presnow
	Reed Employment plc
	Robert Half International
	Select Appointments plc
	Step Ahead
	Sue Hill Recruitment
	Teleresources.
	Historic information on companies used by the Department is not available. Information on the value of contracts with each company is also not available.

Departmental Training

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department spent on external training courses for departmental staff in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006,  (c) 2007 and  (d) 2008; and which external organisations were paid by the Department to provide such courses in each year.

Ben Bradshaw: Decisions on external training courses for staff are made locally. The Department does not therefore hold central records of course attendance or the costs involved. To collect such information would incur disproportionate cost.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) in-patient,  (b) out-patient and  (c) community drug treatment programme places were available for problem drug users, in each of the last five years, broken down by region; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) does not record the number of drug treatment places available, but it does record the number of people in drug treatment and the number of treatment episodes, which is the best indication on treatment capacity we have, although these data are not broken down by region. The information is shown in the following tables.
	Data on the number of people in drug treatment for the last five years:
	
		
			   Number of people in drug treatment 
			 2003-04 125,545 
			 2004-05 160,453 
			 2005-06 177,055 
			 2006-07 195,464 
			 2007-08 202,666 
		
	
	Data on the number of treatment episodes for the last five years are shown in the following tables. It is important to note that clients may have received more than one type of treatment and this is why the totals given do not match the figures given in the previous table.
	
		
			  2003-04 
			  Type of treatment  Percentage of treatment episodes 
			 Inpatient detoxification 3 
			 Specialist prescribing 54 
			 General practitioner (GP) prescribing 9 
			 Structured counselling 21 
			 Structured day care 6 
			 Residential rehabilitation 2 
			 Other structured intervention 5 
			 Total 100 
			   
			 Total treatment codes 98,991 
			 Missing treatment codes 51,020 
			 Total including missing data 150,011 
		
	
	It should be noted that NDTMS data were not collected in 2003-04, however the NTA did ask for some summary retrospective data at the outset of 2004-05, for each agency to provide the most recent episode in the year for each person treated in the year. While this approach was able to provide an estimate of the total number of individuals treated in the year, it does not provide an estimate of the total number of episodes or treatments provided.
	
		
			 2004-05 
			  Type of treatment  Number of people receiving treatment  Percentage of people receiving treatment 
			 Inpatient detoxification 5,464 2 
			 Specialist prescribing 88,450 37 
			 GP prescribing 35,409 15 
			 Structured counselling 52,796 22 
			 Structured day care 18,069 8 
			 Residential rehabilitation 5,620 2 
			 Other structured intervention 31,492 13 
			 Young Persons' service 2,995 1 
			 Total treatment codes 240,295 100 
			 Missing treatment codes 57,248 — 
			 Total including missing data 297,543 — 
		
	
	
		
			  2005-06 
			  Type of treatment  Number of people receiving treatment  Percentage of people receiving treatment 
			 Inpatient detoxification 7,038 2 
			 Specialist prescribing 107,312 35 
			 GP prescribing 45,702 15 
			 Structured counselling 58,831 19 
			 Structured day care 25,085 8 
			 Residential rehabilitation 5,749 2 
			 Other structured intervention 40,678 13 
			 Young Persons' psychosocial intervention 8,442 3 
			 Young Persons' Harm reduction services 3,519 1 
			 Young Persons' Criminal Justice interventions 2,275 1 
			 Young Persons' Specialist pharmacological interventions 1,233 0 
			 Other Young Persons' specific interventions 765 0 
			 Total treatment codes 306,629 (1)99 
			 Missing treatment codes 31,578 — 
			 Total including missing data 338,207 — 
			 (1) This figure does not equal 100 per cent. due to the rounding up/down of the preceding percentages. 
		
	
	
		
			  2006-07 
			  Type of treatment  Number of people receiving treatment  Percentage of people receiving treatment 
			 Inpatient treatment 7,773 2 
			 Specialist prescribing 116,522 34 
			 GP prescribing 51,472 15 
			 Structured psychosocial intervention 59,317 17 
			 Structured day programme 28,672 8 
			 Residential rehabilitation 5,859 2 
			 Other structured intervention 50,475 15 
			 Young Persons' psychosocial intervention 11,908 3 
			 Young Persons' Harm reduction services 4,447 1 
			 Young Persons' Criminal Justice interventions 3,174 1 
			 Young Persons' Specialist pharmacological interventions 1,168 0 
			 Other Young Persons' specific interventions 810 0 
			 Total treatment codes 341,597 (1)98 
			 Missing treatment codes 29,257 — 
			 Total including missing data 370,854 — 
			 (1) This figure does not equal 100 per cent. due to the rounding up/down of the preceding percentages. 
		
	
	
		
			  2007-08 
			  Type of treatment  Number of people receiving treatment  Percentage of people receiving treatment 
			 Inpatient treatment 7,957 2 
			 Specialist prescribing 131,110 36 
			 GP prescribing 55,482 15 
			 Structured psychosocial intervention 58,630 16 
			 Structured day programme 24,308 7 
			 Residential rehabilitation 5,350 1 
			 Other structured intervention 59,033 16 
			 Young Persons' psychosocial intervention 14,058 4 
			 Young Persons' Harm reduction services 6,009 2 
			 Young Persons' Criminal Justice interventions 3,242 1 
			 Young Persons' Specialist pharmacological interventions 821 0 
			 Other Young Persons' specific interventions 995 0 
			 Total treatment codes 366,995 100 
			 Missing treatment codes 12,053 — 
			 Total including missing data 379,048 —

General Practitioners: Telephone Services

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the likely effects of introducing 0344 numbers for GP surgeries.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department is currently gathering evidence on the use of 0844 numbers in general practice and will consider what further action is necessary in light of that evidence.
	As part of the information gathering evidence, the Department will consider the merits of the 03 number range. This exercise has not yet concluded.

Health Centres

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 20 October 2008,  Official Report, column 64W, on health centres, what purpose his Department expects the minimum income guarantee permitted for each new GP-led health centre to serve.

Ben Bradshaw: Where a primary care trust (PCT) chooses to provide an income guarantee for a new general practitioner (GP)-led health centre, it shares with the provider the risks arising from starting a new service with an unknown volume of activity (unregistered patient attendances) and is therefore planning to minimise the potential financial risks and service costs from an unknown local demand. As demand and volume activity becomes predicted from such services we believe PCTs will move away from such 'block contracts'.

Health Services

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  which stroke units in England have closed since 1997;
	(2)  which cardiac units have closed since 1997.

Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally.

High Dependency Units: Closures

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS high dependence units have closed since 1997.

Ben Bradshaw: This information is not held centrally. Local health service providers, working with their commissioners of health care, determine the configuration of critical care services that most effectively meet the needs of their local populations. Since 2000, there has been an increasing trend for high dependency units to merge with intensive care units as this offers the prospects for the best outcomes for patients associated with the most effective and efficient use of resources.

Incontinence: Medical Equipment

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many times items on Part IX of the drug tariff have been prescribed in the last 12 months; what proportion of such prescriptions have been filled; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: According to the prescription cost analysis (PCA) system, an estimated 23.4 million prescription items were dispensed in England for products corresponding to those listed at Part IX of the drug tariff in the period July 2007 to June 2008. The number of prescriptions written for such products is not held centrally.

Independent Television News

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department paid to ITN  (a) in each year from 2005-06 to 2007-08 and  (b) in 2008-09 to date; and what films were made by ITN for his Department in each year.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department has commissioned three films directly from ITN Newscast in the period 2005-06, 2007-08, and 2008-09 to date. They are as follows:
	
		
			   Film  Cost (£) 
			 2006-07 "Enhancing Patient Care through Mental Health Research" 11,500 
			 2007-08 "Health Research in Primary Care" 12,500 
			 2008-09 "Transforming Health Research" 29,000 
			  Note: All figures include VAT.

Intensive Care: Closures

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which NHS intensive care units have closed since 1997.

Ben Bradshaw: This information is not held centrally. Local health service providers, working with their commissioners of health care, determine the configuration of critical care services that most effectively meet the needs of their local populations. Since 2000, there has been an increasing trend for intensive care units to merge with high dependency units as this offers the prospects for the best outcomes for patients associated with the most effective and efficient use of resources.

NHS: Correspondence

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when officials in the NHS Cancer Screening Programme plans to respond to the emails from Mr John Neate, of the Prostate Cancer Charity, to the Director of NHS Cancer Screening Programmes of  (a) 29 July 2008,  (b) 17 September 2008,  (c) 24 September 2008 and  (d) 29th September 2008 relating to the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme.

Ann Keen: On behalf of NHS Cancer Screening Programmes, the National Cancer Director, Professor Mike Richards, responded in full to all the points raised by The Prostate Cancer Charity in his letter of 9 October 2008 to Mr. John Neate.

NHS: Drugs

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department has  (a) evaluated and  (b) commissioned on abnormalities, other than vaginal cancer, which have occurred amongst daughters of women prescribed the drug diethylstilbestrol.

Ann Keen: Diethylstilbestrol (DES) is an oestrogenic hormone formerly used in the treatment of threatened miscarriage.
	The Department is aware of several studies that are investigating the risk of abnormalities other than vaginal cancer in women who were exposed to DES in utero. Most of these data come from a large ongoing study conducted by the National Institute of Cancer in the United States. These data have not been formally evaluated but there is some evidence to suggest that the risk of cervical cancer in DES daughters may be increased and limited support for an increased risk of breast cancer in young women. The Department encourages women to attend regular cervical and breast screening.
	In 1978 a study commissioned by the Medical Research Council followed up women in the UK who had been exposed to DES and their offspring for all significant health outcomes. Mothers and offspring were flagged at the National Health Service Central Register and coded copies of death and cancer registrations were notified to the researchers. Follow-up was discontinued in 1999 due to small numbers of participants.

NHS: Fees and Charges

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what services are not provided free at the point of use in the NHS; when charges were introduced for each of these services; and how much was raised by each type of charge  (a) in the last year for which figures are available and  (b) since its introduction or in the last 30 years, whichever is the shorter period.

Ben Bradshaw: Some services in the national health service are not provided free at the point of need for certain sections of the population. However, help with NHS charges is available for priority groups such as children, older people and those on a low income and different exemptions apply for different charges. The main charges and exemptions are set out in booklet HC11 "Help with Health Costs" which has been placed in the Library and is available on the Department's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Healthcare/Medicines pharmacyandindustry/Prescriptons/NHScosts/index.htm
	NHS primary dental care services are part funded by patient contributions. Charges for dentures were first introduced in 1951. From 1952 onwards, charges have been applicable to all types of dental treatment and were extended to include dental examinations in 1989. Charges are not applicable to dental treatment received in an NHS hospital, although outpatients may have to pay for the supply of dentures or bridges. Charge income collected from NHS primary dental care services in England is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Financial year  NHS dental charge income (£ million) 
			 2007-08 538.3 
			 2006-07 472.2 
			 2005-06 409.8 
			 2004-05 465.9 
			 2003-04 483.6 
			 2002-03 486.7 
			 2001-02 472.1 
			 2000-01 451.9 
			 1999-2000 431.2 
			 1998-99 419.6 
			 1997-98 388.4 
			 1996-97 383.0 
			 1995-96 381.2 
			 1994-95 383.3 
			 1993-94 367.0 
			 1992-93 394.8 
			 1991-92 404.0 
			 1990-91 379.7 
			 1989-90 366.2 
			 1988-89 290.6 
			 1987-88 240.4 
			 1986-87 221.0 
			 1985-86 196.1 
			 1984-85 170.5 
			 1983-84 155.3 
			 1982-83 141.0 
			 1981-82 115.1 
			 1980-81 92.5 
			 1979-80 69.9 
			 1978-79 55.4 
			  Source:  NHS accounts or associated audited notes. 
		
	
	Prescription charges were first introduced in 1952. They were abolished in 1965, but then re-introduced in 1968. Revenue from prescription charges and pre-payment certificates in England is shown in the table. Information for 2007 is not yet available.
	
		
			   Revenue from prescription charges and pre-payment certificates (£ million) 
			 2006 412.0 
			 2005 427.0 
			 2004 422.0 
			 2003 426.0 
			 2002 423.0 
			 2001 408.0 
			 2000 387.0 
			 1999 367.0 
			 1998 341.0 
			 1997 321.0 
			 1996 246.1 
			 1995 249.6 
			 1994 235.3 
			 1993 220.0 
			 1992 203.2 
			 1991 187.4 
			 1990 173.3 
			 1989 155.4 
			 1988 152.7 
			 1987 138.1 
			 1986 125.4 
			 1985 114.4 
			 1984 103.3 
			 1983 95.7 
			 1982 88.1 
			 1981 75.7 
			 1980 58.6 
			 1979 32.7 
			 1978 22.6 
			 1977 21.7 
			 1976 21.9 
			  Source:  Annual Abstract of Statistics, Office for National Statistics. 
		
	
	Wigs and fabric supports are provided by the NHS but patients are charged for them unless they qualify for help with charges. These charges have been in place since 1971. Information on the charges collected for such items is not collected centrally.
	Overseas visitors: Hospital services provided in respect of persons not ordinarily resident in Great Britain are not provided free at the point of delivery unless that person is considered exempt from having to pay the charge. Charges for such persons were first introduced in 1982. The number of persons treated or charged under these regulations and the costs involved are not collected centrally.
	Sight tests: There are no charges for sight tests provided under NHS arrangements. Sight tests are free to certain priority groups and private sight tests are available for all other patients from independent optical practices, and any income from the charges they choose to levy is retained by those practices.

NHS: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to page 35 of his Department's resource accounts for 2007-08, whether his Department has retained the £1.67 billion NHS surplus for expenditure in 2008-09.

Ben Bradshaw: The £1.67 billion surplus generated in the 2007-08 financial year sits within national health service organisations and, as discussed in the Department's 2008-09 Quarter 1 edition of "The Quarter", the £1.667 billion surplus from the 2007-08 financial year has been brought forward to the 2008-09 financial year. "The Quarter" has been placed in the Library.
	The 2008-09 Operating Framework made it clear that we expect the NHS to plan for a surplus broadly similar to the surplus in 2007-08. This enables the full deployment of baseline and additional resources for 2008-09 and continues with our strategy for flexibility to respond to fluctuations in demand whilst maintaining sufficient funds for investment in new services.

NHS: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to page 27, paragraph 16 of his Department's resource accounts for 2007-08, from which organisation each named individual was seconded.

Ben Bradshaw: The information was provided on pages 23 and 24 of the resource accounts and is presented in the following table:
	
		
			  Secondee in  Organisation of origin 
			 Mark Britnell South Central Strategic Health Authority 
			 Andrew Cash Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 
			 Sally Davies Northwick Park Hospital NHS Trust 
			 David Flory North East Strategic Health Authority 
			 Bruce Keogh University College London Hospital NHS Trust 
			 Matthew Swindells Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Trust

NHS: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what dates Ministers in his Department met representatives of HM Treasury to discuss NHS surpluses in the past two years.

Ben Bradshaw: There have been no meetings between Ministers of this Department and representatives of HM Treasury to discuss national health service surpluses.

NHS: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health where the NHS surplus generated in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 has been (i) held and (ii) allocated.

Ben Bradshaw: Under the financial regime applied to the national health service, surpluses are reported in the accounts of the individual organisations that generate them. The surpluses generated in 2006-07 and 2007-08 sit within the NHS, and are reported within NHS accounts.
	The surpluses are not lost to the NHS, but are available to be carried forward for use in future years.

NHS: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has received from HM Treasury on the  (a) generation and  (b) use of surpluses in the NHS.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department has received no guidance from HM Treasury on the generation and use of surpluses in the national health service.

NHS: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether NHS trusts which generate a surplus in  (a) the latest and  (b) the present financial year are to be permitted to carry over the surplus into the next financial year.

Ben Bradshaw: Under the financial regime applied to the national health service, surpluses are reported in the accounts of the individual organisations that generate them.
	NHS trusts that generated a surplus in 2007-08, recorded this surplus within their income and expenditure accounts, and carried the surplus forward to 2008-09. Any further surplus achieved in 2008-09 added to the brought forward surplus from 2007-08 and carried forward to 2009-10.

NHS: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his current estimated outturn is for capital expenditure in 2008-09 attributable to the National Health Service including funding available to NHS Foundation Trusts, in terms consistent with the calculation in Figure A3 of his Department's 2008 Departmental Report.

Ben Bradshaw: The requested statistic will be included in the HM Treasury pre-Budget report.

NHS: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether strategic health authority or primary care trust revenue resource limits for 2008-09 have been adjusted to take into account  (a) surpluses carried forward from financial year 2007-08 and  (b) the return to primary care trusts of top-sliced funds held back in 2007-08 by strategic health authorities.

Ben Bradshaw: Strategic health authority (SHA) revenue resource limits for 2008-09 have been adjusted to take account of surpluses made in 2007-08 by the primary care trusts (PCTs) in their health economy area and by the SHA itself.
	It is for each SHA to manage both the timing and method for repaying top-slice contributions made by their PCTs. Where an SHA has repaid top-slice, the revenue resource limit of the PCT will be adjusted by means of an inter authority transfer.

NHS: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the top-sliced primary care trust allocations held back by strategic health authorities at 31 March 2008 had been allocated to primary care trusts for 2008-09.

Ben Bradshaw: The information requested is not available from data collected during the year, but will be derived from 2008-09 draft accounts data collected from the national health service after the end of the financial year.

NHS: Per Capita Costs

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent per head on health services in  (a) Bexley Care Trust and  (b) Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust areas in the latest period for which figures are available.

Ben Bradshaw: Expenditure per unweighted head of population in 2007-08 by Bexley Care Trust was £1,320.91. Spend in Bexley Care Trust is based on the net operating cost reported in the primary care trust's (PCTs) audited financial monitoring and accounts forms. This does not include all expenditure as the majority of pharmaceutical services expenditure is accounted for by the NHS Business Services Authority rather than by PCTs. Population figure used is Office of National Statistics 2007 estimate for Bexley Care Trust.
	Expenditure per head of population cannot be calculated for national health service trusts as they do not cover specific areas and may receive income from commissioners throughout England.

NHS: Security

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much each NHS trust spent on  (a) security guards and  (b) other security measures to protect patients and staff in each of the last three years.

Ben Bradshaw: This information is not held centrally and could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

Palliative Care

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which  (a) hospitals and  (b) hospices use the Liverpool Pathway for terminal care of patients.

Phil Hope: This information is not held centrally. The NHS End of Life Care Programme, which ran from 2004 to 2007, supported the roll-out of three end of life care tools, the Gold Standards Framework, the Liverpool Care Pathway and the Preferred Priorities for Care. Data collected by the programme show that, at December 2007, one or more of these tools was being used in 74 per cent. of general practitioner practices, 85 per cent. of hospitals, 41 per cent. of community hospitals, 74 per cent. of hospices and 7.4 per cent. of care homes.

Plain English

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent by his Department on Plain English Campaign training courses for its staff in each year since 2005.

Ben Bradshaw: Decisions on staff attending Plain English Campaign training sessions are taken locally. The Department therefore does not hold a central record of such attendance and is unable to provide costs in each year since 2005.

Political Impartiality

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Commercial Director of his Department is permitted to make donations to a political party in  (a) the UK and  (b) the USA under the terms of his contract with the Department.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 30 October 2008
	Members of the senior civil service cannot take part in national or international political activities, including making donations, and must seek written permission to take part in local political activities.

Rural Areas

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in respect of which of his Department's public service agreements rural proofing of departmental policies is stipulated.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department of Health leads on two cross-government public service agreement(s) (PSA)—Better Health and Well Being for all PSA 18 and Better Care for all PSA 19. The Department has signed up as a formal delivery partner for the following 11 PSAs:
	Socially Excluded Adults PSA
	Housing Supply PSA
	Young People on Paths to Success PSA
	Child Safety PSA
	Children and Young People Health and Well Being PSA
	Science and Innovation PSA
	Later Life PSA
	Employment PSA
	Equalities PSA
	Alcohol and Drugs PSA
	Safer Communities PSA.
	It is a requirement for all new policies and programmes to be subject to an impact assessment which includes rural proofing.

Scarborough and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust: Translation Services

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Scarborough and North East Yorkshire NHS Healthcare Trust spent on translators in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006,  (c) 2007 and  (d) 2008 to date.

Ben Bradshaw: This information is not held centrally.

Slaughterhouses: Inspections

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on abattoir inspections in each of the last 10 years, broken down by abattoir.

Dawn Primarolo: The Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) manages its costs across geographic areas and does not collate costs by individual abattoir.
	The gross operating cost of the MHS—including inspection activities in abattoirs, tasks for Government Departments such as Food Standards Agency and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and administrative and managerial support costs—is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Gross operating cost (£ million) 
			 1998-99 63.1 
			 1999-2000 66.9 
			 2000-01 64.6 
			 2001-02 (1)77.7 
			 2002-03 81.2 
			 2003-04 82.0 
			 2004-05 83.7 
			 2005-06 88.2 
			 2006-07 91.3 
			 2007-08 (2)87.1 
			 (1) Gross operating cost increased in 2001-02 due to the regulatory requirement for full-time veterinary attendance in abattoirs and the 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak.  (2 )Gross operating cost for 2007-08 excludes costs relating to the MHS modernisation programme.

Social Workers: Manpower

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many social workers per 100,000 residents there were in  (a) Hemel Hempstead and  (b) Hertfordshire in each year since 1997.

Ann Keen: The following table shows data for the number of whole-time equivalent social workers per 100,000 head of population for Hertfordshire as of the 30 September each year from 1997 to 2007.
	Data for 2008 are expected to be published in spring 2009.
	
		
			  Hertfordshire 
			  As at 30 September each year:  Whole-time equivalent social workers per 100,000 head of population 
			 1997 64.5 
			 1998 65.1 
			 1999 75.7 
			 2000 76.6 
			 2001 76.2 
			 2002 67.0 
			 2003 65.7 
			 2004 64.6 
			 2005 64.1 
			 2006 66.1 
			 2007 68.0 
			  Source: SSDS001 
		
	
	Data are not collected centrally for Hemel Hempstead.

Speech Therapy

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many care episodes related to speech and language therapy there were in each year since 1996-97 for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: The available information is published in 'NHS Speech and Language Therapy Services, Summary Information for 2004-05, England'. The document has already been placed in the Library.
	As part of the Department's initiative to reduce the burden of data collection on national health service front-line staff, the activity data returns on speech and language therapy were discontinued from April 2005.

Swindon Great Western Hospital: Private Finance Initiative

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the estimated annual cost of private finance initiative contracts associated with the construction and maintenance of the Swindon Great Western hospital is for each year of the remaining duration of these contracts from 2008-09;
	(2)  what the annual cost of private finance initiative contracts associated with the construction and maintenance of the Swindon Great Western hospital has been in each year since inception to the end of 2007-08.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member for Bridgwater to the answer given to the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning) on 27 February 2008,  Official Report, column 1768W. The list for the private finance initiative (PR) schemes placed in the Library contains the estimated annual payments over the full 28 year operational period of the PFI contract for Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, based on information held by the Department.

Tumours: Surgery

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of patients who have received robotic radiosurgery treatment for inoperable tumours in NHS hospitals in the last 10 years.

Ann Keen: The requested information is not available centrally.

Tumours: Surgery

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received about the provision on the NHS of robotic radiosurgery for inoperable tumours.

Ann Keen: During 2008, the Department has received seven representations on CyberKnife, a robotic radiosurgery technique, comprising four letters and a parliamentary question from hon. Members and two e-mails from a member of the public.

Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been referred to each of the new upper-gastro-intestinal cancer centres; and how many of those people have been  (a) diagnosed with upper-gastro-intestinal cancer,  (b) given treatment which does not include surgery and  (c) given surgical treatment.

Ann Keen: The requested information is not collected centrally.

Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of post-operative upper-gastro-intestinal cancer patients in each hospital or other treatment centre died  (a) in hospital and  (b) within (i) 30 days, (ii) 90 days and (iii) one year of their operation in each of the last three years.

Ann Keen: The requested information is not available centrally.

Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cancer networks have  (a) agreed,  (b) commenced and  (c) completed reconfiguration to comply with upper-gastro-intestinal improving outcomes guidance.

Ann Keen: Progress on the implementation of improving outcomes guidance is reported in June and December each year. As at June 2008, 21 of the 28 cancer networks across the country had implemented improving outcomes in upper gastro-intestinal cancers. The remaining seven cancer networks had agreed plans with the National Cancer Action Team for the implementation of this guidance.

TREASURY

Bank Services

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to ensure that those running businesses in the UK financed by Icelandic banks can continue to use their overdraft facilities.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 22 October 2008
	As Chancellor announced on 13 October, the Bank of England has provided a short-term loan of up to £100 million to the London branch of Landsbanki. This loan will help ensure an orderly wind-down for Landsbanki which will maximise the returns to UK creditors. We are continuing to work closely with the Icelandic authorities to ensure a fair process for UK creditors.

Bank Services

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps are being taken to improve consumer awareness of the extent of deposit coverage.

Ian Pearson: Consumer awareness of the coverage of the financial services compensation scheme (FSCS) is a matter for the industry itself—the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the FSCS. The FSA and the FSCS are reviewing how consumers can be better informed about the current compensation scheme (including undertaking research into consumer awareness). If appropriate, the FSA may consult on rule changes to facilitate awareness of entitlement to compensation under the FSCS, alongside any industry-led initiatives.

Bank Services: Loans

Adam Price: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  pursuant to his statement of 13 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 540-41, on financial markets, what reference point his Department proposes to use in respect of the requirement for banks supported by the recapitalisation scheme to maintain  (a) the volume of lending to and  (b) the interest rates charged to homeowners and small businesses at least at 2007 levels;
	(2)  whether his Department's agreements with each of the banks participating in the recapitalisation scheme include commitments on the policy of each institution in respect of  (a) mortgage arrears and  (b) repossessions;
	(3)  if he will require banks participating in the recapitalisation scheme to provide funding to independent debt advice centres.

Ian Pearson: As part of their investment, the Government have agreed with the banks supported by the recapitalisation scheme a range of commitments. Details are available at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/press_105_08.htm

Banking Supervision

Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will instruct his appointees to the boards of banks in receipt of public funds for recapitalisation to seek measures through the board to  (a) recover the bonus payments made and  (b) reduce the pension payments to the chief executives and chairmen of the board of those banks commensurate with their performance.

Ian Pearson: As part of their investment, the Government have agreed a range of commitments with banks accessing the capitalisation scheme. The Government expect that no cash bonuses will be paid to directors in the current year. Going forward, and to ensure that taxpayers' interests as shareholders in the bank are protected, and the performance of the company enhanced, directors' remuneration will be linked to long-term value creation and take account of risk.
	The terms have been agreed on a case-by-case basis with banks accessing the recapitalisation scheme, although elements are common to all participating banks.

Banks: Government Securities

Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value is of Government bonds swapped for bank-owned assets under the liquidity arrangements; and what proportion has been swapped with assets of  (a) UK banks and  (b) other banks.

Ian Pearson: In order to provide the banking system with sufficient liquidity the Bank of England has extended the scale of its lending in its scheduled money market operations (through for example, an extension in its lending at three-month maturities). In addition, as part of the Government's plan to recapitalise the banking system, the Chancellor announced that at least £200 billion will be made available to banks under the Special Liquidity Scheme (SLS). The Bank does not publish information about the value of lending to specific counterparties but it has said that the total outstanding value of Treasury Bills lent under the SLS will be published after the end of the drawdown period, which is set to close on 30 January 2009.

Banks: Shares

Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what account he takes of  (a) changes in the share price of banks and  (b) moral hazard in determining what public support to make available to banks; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will make it his policy to ensure that the moral hazard principle is applied to the activities of the banking and finance sector.

Ian Pearson: Both the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer have made it clear that they will do whatever is necessary, whatever is right, to ensure the stability of the financial system. The Chancellor announced the comprehensive and decisive financial support package on 8 October and outlined the specific details on 13 October of the steps taken to ensure financial stability, including the terms of the agreements with those banks participating in the Government's recapitalisation scheme.

Corporation Tax

Anne Main: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the number of businesses in  (a) St Albans,  (b) Hertfordshire and  (c) the UK which will be affected by the decision to increase the lower rate of corporation tax from April 2009.

Stephen Timms: Changes to the Small Companies Rate of Corporation Tax were made as part of a broader tax package at Budget 2007, which included the introduction of the Annual Investment Allowance. No authoritative estimate is available of the number of businesses that will be affected by the increase to the SCR from April 2009.
	National Statistics for the number of companies by the rate at which corporation tax was charged are published on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/corporate_tax/menu.htm

Counterfeit Banknotes

David Hamilton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many counterfeit banknotes have been seized in the UK in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how many purported to be issued by  (a) the Bank of England,  (b) Scottish banks and  (c) banks in Northern Ireland;
	(2)  how many counterfeit banknotes purporting to be issued by Scottish banks were seized in  (a) England and  (b) the rest of the UK in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Ian Pearson: The Bank of England is responsible for collating statistics on counterfeits of its own banknotes and these are published on the Bank's website at:
	http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/about/counterfeits.htm
	Figures for the total number of Bank of England counterfeits removed from circulation for the years 2003 to 2007 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  thousand 
			   Numbers discovered excluding bulk seizures  Bulk seizures by the police 
			 2003 366 23 
			 2004 330 311 
			 2005 505 38 
			 2006 384 19 
			 2007 290 15 
		
	
	Bulk seizures are notes seized by the police before they enter circulation.
	Scottish and Northern Ireland banknote issuers are responsible for collating statistical information on counterfeits of their own banknote issue. The Scottish banks publish their statistics on the Committee of Scottish Clearing banks website at:
	http://www.scotbanks.org.uk/banknote_counterfeit.php
	The Northern Irish banknote issuers do not publish statistics on counterfeits of their banknote issue.

Departmental Buildings

Clive Betts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his Department's policy is on improving the energy efficiency of the buildings which it  (a) rents and  (b) owns; what changes there have been in the energy efficiency of such buildings in the last (i) five and (ii) 10 years; and whether his Department has adopted targets on energy efficiency improvements in the buildings it occupies over the next (A) five and (B) 10 years.

Angela Eagle: The Treasury is committed to improving energy efficiency of the Department's estate and reducing emissions year on year. Measures taken over the last year that have led to improvements in energy efficiency include adjustment of lighting system controls, switching to daytime cleaning reducing need for lighting after hours, and adjusting the temperature which heating is turned on.
	There are several different ways of attempting to measure energy efficiency, none of which will capture fully significant changes to both the activity of organisations and the estate over time.
	The Government's targets for energy efficiency are to increase energy efficiency per m(2) by 15 per cent. by 2010 and 30 per cent. by 2020 based on 1999-2000 levels.
	The latest available data show that HM Treasury in 2007-08 achieved a 30 per cent. reduction in KWh per m(2) compared with 1999-2000, the level of the 2020 target.
	Detailed information on the Treasury energy consumption by building can be found in HM Treasury annual report 2007-08.

Departmental Lost Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what  (a) equipment and  (b) data were lost by his Department in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: No equipment or data have been reported lost in HM Treasury in the last 12 months.

Equitable Life Assurance Society

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what recent steps the Government has taken to reach a conclusion for those affected by Equitable Life;
	(2)  what recent steps the Government has taken as a result of the Ombudsman's investigation into Equitable Life.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 22 October 2008
	 I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 13 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1000W.

Lisbon Treaty

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library copies of information on each EU member state's progress towards the economic benchmarks of the Lisbon agenda;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect of the global financial turbulence on progress towards the economic benchmarks of the Lisbon agenda by 2010; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what recent progress has been made at the  (a) national and (b) European level towards the goals of the Lisbon Agenda for 2010; what discussions on the Lisbon Agenda took place at the most recent European Council meeting; what plans the European Council has to discuss the Lisbon Agenda at its December meeting; and on what dates further meetings of the Council will take place.

Ian Pearson: Each year the European Commission publishes an Annual Progress Report on the Lisbon Strategy for Jobs and Growth, which normally contains an assessment of progress made under the Lisbon Strategy, both at national and Community level. This includes an assessment of member states' National Reform Programmes, detailing, inter alia, their progress against the 14 short-listed structural indicators. This year's report is expected in December. As with previous years, the Government will make copies of the report available to the House.
	In September 2008 the UK published its National Reform Programme, setting out the UK's progress on the Lisbon goals and the wider economic context. Copies have already been placed in the Library. It is also available from the HM Treasury website:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/5246.htm.
	The spring 2008 European Council confirmed that the Integrated Guidelines remained valid and invited the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council to take forward work on the 10 objectives identified in the Community Lisbon Programme.
	The October 2008 European Council discussed the wider economic context, and in particular the Council underlined that continued structural reform is more important than ever, to promote growth and employment in Europe. It invited the European Commission to make proposals on the necessary steps to support growth and employment, by the end of the year. It is expected that the December European Council on 11-12 December will discuss these proposals. The presidency will announce further meetings of the Council in the usual way.

Financial Services: Direct Selling

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from consumer organisations on the use by financial services companies of automated cold-calling telephony systems that give rise to silent calls; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The Department has no record of receiving any representations from consumer organisations on the issue of financial services companies' use of automated cold-calling telephony systems.
	This is a matter for the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Under sections 128-130 of the Communications Act 2003, Ofcom can take enforcement action when there are reasonable grounds for believing that a person (either an individual or a legal entity) has persistently misused an electronic communications network or service. A person misuses a network or service if the effect, or likely effect, of their behaviour, is to cause unnecessary annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety to another person. Ofcom has taken action and fined companies over the past year who they found were in breach of these rules.

Icesave

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects depositors with Icesave to be able to withdraw their deposits.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 13 October 2008
	The UK Financial Authorities and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme are doing everything possible to ensure Icesave depositors receive the money to which they are entitled, quickly and straightforwardly.
	Details can be found in the FSCS announcement at:
	www.fscs.org.uk/consumer.

Inheritance Tax

Michael Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance is issued by his Department on the application of inheritance tax to individuals who were married outside the UK.

Stephen Timms: Draft guidance about the treatment of marriages for inheritance tax purposes was published for comment on the HM Revenue and Customs' website on 20 June 2008 at
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cto/iht/tnr-draftguidance.pdf.

Landfill Tax

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the calculations underlying the tax neutrality of the proposed exemption from landfill tax for contaminated soils and extensions of the land remediation relief to derelict land.

Angela Eagle: The Exchequer impacts which set out the revenue neutrality of the exemption from landfill tax for contaminated soils and the extension of land remediation relief are published in Table A.1 of the 2008 Budget Report.

Members: Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 18 September 2008 on the economy (PO reference: 1/60847/2008).

Ian Pearson: I understand that the Financial Services Secretary (Lord Myners) has replied to the hon. Member's letter.

Oil: Prices

Michael Penning: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what forward projections he has made of the price of a barrel of oil in the next 12 months.

Stephen Timms: The most recent oil price assumption underlying the public finance projections is provided in Budget 2008. An updated projection will be provided in the forthcoming 2008 pre-Budget report.

Profits

Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider the merits of requiring the repatriation of any profits transferred offshore by those British registered banks in receipt of support from the public purse.

Ian Pearson: As part of their investment, the Government have agreed a range of commitments with banks accessing the recapitalisation scheme announced on 8 October.
	This package has been designed specifically so that it protects the interests of taxpayers.

Research and Development Tax Credit

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the  (a) number and  (b) monetary value of research and development tax credits that were eligible to be claimed, but were not claimed (i) under the small and medium-sized enterprises research and development tax credits scheme, (ii) under the large companies research and development tax credits scheme and (iii) under the vaccine research relief scheme in each year since 2000.

Angela Eagle: The information requested is not available.

Research and Development Tax Credit

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of  (a) the number of eligible research and development tax credits and  (b) the monetary value of eligible research and development tax credits which will not have been claimed as a result of the time limit for making research and development claims being reduced from six to two years from 31 March 2006; and what estimate he has made of the number of companies adversely affected as a result.

Angela Eagle: The information requested is not available.

Research and Development Tax Credit

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations his Department has received on the operation of the research and development tax credits system; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: The Treasury receives a wide range of representations from various sources on the operation of the R&D tax credit schemes.

Research and Development Tax Credit

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of companies which have used Business Link's interactive tool to calculate whether they are eligible to claim research and development tax credits.

Angela Eagle: Since its launch in March 2006, Business Link's interactive tool has been used in around 8,300 instances to provide an indication of a company's eligibility to claim research and development tax credits.

Research and Development Tax Credit

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate has been made of the annual cost of raising the rate of enhanced deduction from the tax bills of large companies under the research and development tax credits system from 125 per cent. to 130 per cent.; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate has been made of the annual cost of raising the rate of enhanced deduction from the tax bills of small and medium sized enterprises from 150 per cent. to 175 per cent. under the research and development tax credits system; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: Estimates of the annual cost of raising the rate of enhanced deductions provided by R and D tax credits are published in table A.11 in the 2008 Budget report, on the HM Treasury website:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/bud08_chaptera.pdf

Research and Development Tax Credit

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what his estimate is of the value of research and development tax credits that were  (a) expected to be claimed and  (b) claimed in each year since 2000;
	(2)  how many companies claimed tax credits under the  (a) small and medium-sized research and development tax credits scheme,  (b) large companies research and development tax credits scheme and  (c) vaccine research relief scheme in each year since 2000;
	(3)  how many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) received cash payments from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) under the research and development tax credits scheme in return for losses incurred through research and development in each year since 2000; what the monetary value of cash payments made to SMEs by HMRC under the research and development tax credits scheme in return for losses incurred through research and development was in each year; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  how many research and development tax credits were claimed in each year since 2000; what the monetary value was of expenditure against which research and development tax credits were claimed in each year since 2000; and what the monetary value was of research and development tax credits claimed in each year;
	(5)  how many research and development tax credits were claimed under the small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) scheme in each year since 2000; what the monetary value of expenditure against which research and development tax credits were claimed was under the SME scheme in each year since 2000 was; and what the monetary value of research and development tax credits which were claimed under the SME scheme was in each such year;
	(6)  how many research and development tax credits were claimed under the large company scheme in each year since 2002; what the monetary value was of expenditure against which research and development tax credits were claimed under the large company scheme in each such year; and what the value of research and development tax credits which were claimed under the large company scheme was in each such year;
	(7)  how many research and development tax credits were claimed under the Vaccine Research Relief scheme in each year since 2003; what the monetary value of expenditure against which research and development tax credits were claimed under the Vaccine Research Relief scheme was in each such year; and what the monetary value of research and development tax credits which were claimed under the Vaccine Research Relief scheme was in each year since 2003.

Angela Eagle: The expected costs of the research and development tax credit schemes were estimated in the regulatory impact assessments published in March 2000 and April 2002 when the schemes were introduced and are available on the research and development tax credits page of the HM Revenue and Customs website.
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/randd/index.htm
	Estimates of the number of claims for research and development tax credits and the costs of support claimed are published as National Statistics on the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/corporate_tax/randdtcmenu.htm
	The amounts of research and development expenditure against which tax credits were claimed are given in the following table, by scheme and year:
	
		
			  £ million, rounded to the nearest £10 million 
			   SME scheme  Large Company scheme  Vaccines Research Relief  All 
			 2000-01 350 — — 350 
			 2001-02 860 — — 860 
			 2002-03 1,070 2,480 — 3,550 
			 2003-04 1,080 4,500 (1)— 5,580 
			 2004-05 1,090 5,260 10 6,360 
			 2005-06 1,000 5,760 (1)— 6,760 
			 (1 )Negligible

Research and Development Tax Credit

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost was of the administration of the research and development tax credits scheme in each year since 2000; and how much was spent on  (a) start-up costs,  (b) publicity and marketing,  (c) staff costs,  (d) staff training,  (e) evaluation and monitoring,  (f) systems costs,  (g) appeals and  (h) other costs.

Angela Eagle: The costs of administering the research and development tax credits schemes are met out of HMRC's general running costs and are not separately identified. Work on research and development claims is carried out across a number of business areas and a company tax return will include a range of different tax claims and adjustments of which a research and development tax relief claim will form only part.

Research and Development Tax Credit

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the qualifying research and development expenditure threshold for the research and development tax credits system was in each year since 2000;
	(2)  for what reasons the qualifying research and development expenditure threshold for the research and development tax credits system was lowered from £25,000 to £10,000; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: The reduction in the minimum qualifying expenditure threshold for the R and D tax credit schemes from £25,000 to £10,000 was introduced in the Finance Act 2003. This was part of a package of improvements designed, after consultation with business, to improve the operation of the schemes and to make it easier for SMEs in particular to access the credits.

Research and Development Tax Credit

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many companies' research and development tax credits claims were reviewed by HM Revenue and Customs in each year since 2000.

Angela Eagle: The information requested is not available.

Research and Development Tax Credit

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of  (a) the average compliance cost per business for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) claiming research and development tax credits in each year since 2000,  (b) the total compliance costs for SMEs claiming research and development tax credits in each year since 2000,  (c) the average compliance cost per business for large companies claiming research and development tax credits in each years since 2002 and  (d) the total compliance costs for large companies claiming research and development tax credits in each year since 2002; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: Estimates of the compliance costs for companies claiming R and D tax credits were provided in the Regulatory Impact Assessments published when the schemes were introduced and are available on research and development tax credits page of the HM Revenue and Customs website:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/randd/index.htm

Research and Development Tax Credit

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the  (a) likely change in the number of companies that will apply for research and development tax credits under the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) scheme following the extension of the scheme to cover companies with fewer than 500 employees,  (b) likely change in the number of research and development tax credits that will be claimed under the SME scheme and  (c) likely change in the monetary value of research and development tax credits that will be claimed under the SME scheme over the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 20 March 2008,  Official Report, column 1266W.

Revenue and Customs: Databases

Justine Greening: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of UK taxpayers whose personal details are held on HM Revenue and Customs' Taxpayer Business System;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of complaints received by HM Revenue and Customs on inaccurate personal data held on its Taxpayer Business System in each of the last four years;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the proportion of UK taxpayers' personal detail entries on HM Revenue and Customs' Taxpayer Business System that contained inaccurate information in each of the last four years;
	(4)  what procedure governs the  (a) alteration and  (b) disclosure by HM Revenue and Customs staff of taxpayers' personal details held on its Taxpayer Business System;
	(5)  what estimate he has made of the cost of correcting inaccurate personal information held on HM Revenue and Customs' Taxpayer Business System in each of the last four years.

Stephen Timms: The Taxpayer Business Service is not a database. It is a method of accessing and amending details held elsewhere and does not itself hold personal data.
	The TBS system allows records held in the central frameworks database to be viewed and amended. These frameworks hold personal details of approximately 47 million taxpayers and non-taxpayers. At any point in time, 3 million to 3.5 million records for individuals held on frameworks are inaccurate.
	Information relating to the number of complaints about the state of the frameworks databases is not recorded. The cost of correcting database entries is not recorded separately.
	Staff are only allowed to access the Taxpayer Business Service if they have a business need to do so. Where access rights are validated staff are able to amend the appropriate records. Staff must adhere to rigorous guidelines in relation to disclosure of data; They must establish that they have permission/legal authority to disclose it, and that the requestor has entitlement/legal right to receive it.

Revenue and Customs: Manpower

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff of each  (a) sex and  (b) grade were employed at the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise offices (i) Tyler's House, (ii) Dencora Court, (iii) Alexander House, (iv) Portcullis House, (v) Shoeburyness Computer Complex, (vi) Kelting House in Southend-on-Sea, (vii) Kelting House, Basildon and (viii) Regent House, Basildon on (A) 31 March 2000, (B) 31 March 2002 and (C) 31 March 2004.

Stephen Timms: Tyler's House and Dencora Court are the same building and there is no Kelting House in Southend on Sea.
	Data for (A) 31 March 2000 is not retained by HMRC.
	Subject to those provisos, the numbers of staff of each sex and grade in these buildings on (B) 31 March 2002 and (C) 31 March 2004 are as follows:
	 Tyler's House
	 Gender :
	(A) 31 March 2000—not available
	(B) 31 March 2002—160 female, 89 male
	(C) 31 March 2004—175 female, 96 male
	 Grade :
	(A) 31 March 2000—not available
	
		
			  (B) 31 March 2002 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 Grade 6 4 
			 Grade 7 11 
			 Senior Officer 7 
			 Higher Officer 29 
			 Officer 62 
			 Assistant Officer 79 
			 Admin Assistant 57 
			 Total 249 
		
	
	
		
			  (C) 31 March 2004 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 Grade 6 4 
			 Grade 7 8 
			 Senior Officer 9 
			 Higher Officer 32 
			 Officer 76 
			 Assistant Officer 82 
			 Admin Assistant 60 
			 Total 271 
		
	
	 Alexander House
	 Gender :
	(A) 31 March 2000—not available
	(B) 31 March 2002—1,112 female, 805 male
	C) 31 March 2004—1,065 female, 762 male
	 Grade :
	(A) 31 March 2000—not available
	
		
			  (B) 31 March 2002 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 SCS 4 
			 Grade 6 10 
			 Grade 7 28 
			 Senior Officer 214 
			 Higher Officer 362 
			 Officer 404 
			 Assistant Officer 434 
			 Admin Assistant 461 
			 Total 1,917 
		
	
	
		
			  (C) 31 March 2004 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 SCS 3 
			 Grade 6 7 
			 Grade 7 29 
			 Band T/Fast Stream 1 
			 Senior Officer 235 
			 Higher Officer 337 
			 Officer 377 
			 Assistant Officer 454 
			 Admin Assistant 384 
			 Total 1,827 
		
	
	 Portcullis House, Southend
	 Gender:
	(A) 31 March 2000—not available
	(B) 31 March 2002—131 female, 125 male
	(C) 31 March 2004—149 female, 133 male
	 Grade:
	(A) 31 March 2000—not available
	
		
			  (B) 31 March 2002 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 SCS 3 
			 Grade 6 3 
			 Grade 7 7 
			 Senior Officer 52 
			 Higher Officer 93 
			 Officer 61 
			 Assistant Officer 34 
			 Admin Assistant 3 
			 Total 256 
		
	
	
		
			  (C) 31 March 2004 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 SCS 2 
			 Grade 6 4 
			 Grade 7 11 
			 Senior Officer 59 
			 Higher Officer 101 
			 Officer 56 
			 Assistant Officer 46 
			 Admin Assistant 3 
			 Total 282 
		
	
	 Shoeburyness Computer Complex
	 Gender:
	(A) 31 March 2000—not available
	(B) 31 March 2002—one female, one male
	(C) 31 March 2004—two female, three male
	 Grade:
	(A) 31 March 2000—not available
	
		
			  (B) 31 March 2002 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 Higher Officer 1 
			 Officer 1 
			 Total 2 
		
	
	
		
			  31 March 2004 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 Oracle 7 1 
			 Senior Officer 2 
			 Higher Officer 1 
			 Officer 1 
			 Total 5 
		
	
	 Kelting House, Basildon
	 Gender:
	(A) 31 March 2001—30 female, five male
	(B) 31 March 2002—27 female, four male
	(C) 31 March 2004—30 female, four male
	 Grade:
	(A) 31 March 2000—not available
	
		
			  (B) 31 March 2002 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 Senior Officer 1 
			 Higher Officer 5 
			 Officer 7 
			 Assistant Officer 11 
			 Admin Assistant 7 
			 Total 31 
		
	
	
		
			  (C) 31 March 2004 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 Senior Officer 1 
			 Higher Officer 4 
			 Officer 8 
			 Assistant Officer 13 
			 Admin Assistant 8 
			 Total 34 
		
	
	 Regent House, Basildon
	 Gender:
	(A) 31 March 2000—not available
	(B) 31 March 2002—16 female, 15 male
	(C) 31 March 2004—10 female, 12 male
	 Grade:
	(A) 31 March 2000—not available
	
		
			  (B) 31 March 2002 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 Senior Officer 4 
			 Higher Officer 13 
			 Officer 8 
			 Assistant Officer 4 
			 Admin Assistant 2 
			 Total 31 
		
	
	
		
			  (C) 31 March 2004 
			  Grade  Headcount 
			 Senior Officer 4 
			 Higher Officer 10 
			 Officer 5 
			 Assistant Officer 2 
			 Admin Assistant 1 
			 Total 22

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many of those purchasing a residential property since the zero-rate of stamp duty land tax for zero-carbon homes came into effect have been liable for stamp duty land tax;
	(2)  how many new homes have qualified for zero-rate stamp duty for zero-carbon homes since the zero-rate was introduced.

Ian Pearson: Between October 2007, when the SDLT relief for zero-carbon homes was introduced, and September 2008 15 homes have qualified for the relief.
	The purpose of the tax relief is to provide more new energy efficient technologies in homes. The Government expect the numbers of qualifying homes to be low in the first few years, but to rise as more properties eligible to claim the relief are developed. Information on property transactions and SDLT receipts can be found at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats

Taxation: Self-Assessment

David Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many HM Revenue and Customs offices there are which  (a) accept completed tax returns delivered in person and  (b) are able to provide a stamped receipt to persons filing such tax returns.

Stephen Timms: HMRC have a network of 279 Inquiry Centres. Customers can hand returns in to all of them.
	Since 2005 HMRC has adopted a consistent national approach of not issuing receipts for returns handed in to Inquiry Centres. Checking and issuing receipts for returns diverted staff from serving those that need advice and help to complete their forms. This has a particular impact around the SA filing deadline when many hundreds of thousands of tax returns are handed in.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan: Humanitarian Aid

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans he has to address the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, with particular reference to the drought; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) has been swift in responding to the worsening humanitarian situation, providing £8 million to the World Food Programme's (WFP) 2008-09 humanitarian appeals. Our support will help the WFP provide food assistance to an average of 1.8 million drought-afflicted people each month until the 2009 harvest. This is in addition to £5.5 million for an agricultural recovery programme providing seeds and fertiliser for the most vulnerable farmers in drought-afflicted regions up to September 2009.

Burma: International Assistance

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 20 October 2008,  Official Report, column 2W, on Burma: international assistance, what progress has been made since his letter of 9th July to like-minded development Ministers on support to the UN appeal for Burma.

Michael Foster: The United Nations (UN) appeal for Burma on the 10 July was set at US $464 million. As of 27 October, donors had committed US $257.6 million. It is therefore now 55 per cent. funded.

Departmental Older Workers

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many people aged over  (a) 55 and  (b) 60 years were recruited by his Department in 2007-08; and what percentage in each case this was of the number of new recruits.

Ivan Lewis: During the financial year 2007-08, a total of 213 new recruits joined the Department for International Development (DFID). Of these, 116 were Home Civil Servants (HCS), and 97 were Staff Appointed in Country (SAIC) recruited locally to work in our network of offices overseas on local terms and conditions of service.
	Details of the number of staff aged over  (a) 55 and  (b) 60 who joined DFID in the 2007 to 2008 financial year, and their equivalent percentage in each case, of all recruits, are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  New starts to DFID in 2007-08 
			   Age 55 or below  Age over 55  Age over 60  
			   Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Total 
			 HCS 113 53.1 3 1.4 0 0.0 116 
			 SAIC 97 45.5 0 0.0 0 0.0 97 
			 Total 210 98.6 3 1.4 0 0.0 213

Departmental Training

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on external training courses for departmental staff in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006,  (c) 2007 and  (d) 2008; and which external organisations were paid by his Department to provide such courses in each year.

Ivan Lewis: It is not possible, without incurring disproportionate costs, to provide the amount spent by the Department for International Development (DFID) on external training courses for departmental staff in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006,  (c) 2007 and  (d) 2008; and which external organisations were paid by the Department to provide such courses in each year.
	Sub-departments and overseas offices within DFID are responsible for arranging and financing staff training. Information on the amount spent on training courses is not held centrally.

Developing Countries: Education

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he plans to take to prioritise funding for education in conflict-affected fragile states; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The UK Government's Education Beyond Borders initiative, announced on 5 April 2007, set out the Department for International Development's (DFID) plans for delivering education to children affected by conflict or living in fragile states. It includes a £20 million grant to UNICEF to deliver education in emergency, conflict and post-crisis countries; financial support to education in conflict and post-conflict states including Nepal (£60 million to 2015), Burundi (£6 million over three years), Sierra Leone (£9 million over four years) and Somalia (£9 million over three years); support for the education recovery programme in Liberia, via the multi-donor Fast Track Catalytic Fund; if conditions permit, £50 million for education in the Democratic Republic of Congo, further support to education in Afghanistan via the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund; and support to the Education for All Fast Track Initiative to ensure that support is delivered effectively and flexibly to fragile, conflict and post-conflict states.
	DFID Country Offices have been working to scale up our education support in partner countries, including those in countries under the Education Beyond Borders initiative, DFID support will help poor countries with significant numbers of out of school primary aged children and seek to help hard to reach children receive a basic education.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the impact of the humanitarian assistance for Gaza; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: We remain very concerned by the humanitarian situation in Gaza. We monitor it closely through humanitarian agencies and NGOs. Ongoing restrictions on Gaza's crossings impact on the provision of humanitarian services, although assistance funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) does get through to those that need it.
	DFID assesses the impact of its humanitarian funding for Palestinian refugees in Gaza through regular reporting from the implementing agency, the UN's Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). Our funding supports the delivery of essential services (particularly health care and education) by UNRWA to registered refugees in Gaza, who are the majority of the population. In 2008, we have provided £19 million to UNRWA.
	In March 2008, DFID provided £2 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for its work in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This helped restore basic services in Gaza such as water, waste water and hospital infrastructure damaged during hostilities, thus reducing public health risks. Our earlier funding for the European Commission's TIM/PEGASE mechanism supported the provision of emergency medical and social services to the population of Gaza and the West Bank and paid salaries of key public sector workers.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when he will respond to the letter to him dated 10 September from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Dr. J. Sherwin.

Douglas Alexander: A reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton has been issued.

Overseas Aid: Education

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of the education funding announced as part of the Education Beyond Borders initiative in April 2007 has been disbursed to date.

Douglas Alexander: The 'Education Beyond Borders' initiative included DFID's plans for delivering education to children affected by conflict or living in fragile states. For those countries specifically listed in the initiative, DFID support is as follows:
	
		
			  Countries listed in 'Education Beyond Borders' initiative  DFID support 
			 Afghanistan Expenditure of £55 million in 2007-08 and £60 million in 2008-09 disbursed to the World Bank account for the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, which meets the cost of 100,000 teachers. 
			 Burundi In 2007-08, direct bilateral expenditure on education was £55,000. In 2008, we have disbursed £794,000 as requested by the government of Burundi of £6 million being provided end 2007 to end 2010 through the Pooled Fund for education. 
			 Democratic Republic of Congo In 2007-08, direct bilateral expenditure on education was £82,000 and in 2008-09 to date £155,000 with a further £6.6 million of forecast expenditure under our contribution of £10.41 million to first phase of Access to Primary Education (£55 million over five years) through the multi-donor Trust Fund, managed by the World Bank, and some £3 million of support 2008-09 through the Multi-Donor Trust Fund, managed by UNDP, that goes to education. 
			 Liberia Support was to have been provided through the Education for All Fast Track Initiative (FTI). However the FTI has not yet provided support as Liberia has been allocated US$12 million from the Transition Fund managed by UNICEF. 
			 Nepal Since 2007, approximately £10.5 million has been disbursed in support of education. This is part of our planned contribution of £20 million for the Education for All programme 2004-09. 
			 Sierra Leone In 2007-08, direct bilateral expenditure on education was £3.6 million. £10 million disbursed of £15 million, in 2008, for Poverty Reduction Budget Support, of which £3 million supports education, and £750,000 fully disbursed, in 2008, for the support for Teachers' Census programme through the Pooled Fund for Education. 
			 Somalia In 2007-08, direct bilateral expenditure on education was £2 million. Providing £6 million to the Strategic Partnership for Education Recovery and Development programme 2006-10 of which £1 million has been disbursed in 2008-09 and £1.9 million through the Africa Educational Trust of which £256,000 has been disbursed in 2008-09. Also, since 2007, some £537,000 of support to Save the Children for their education work in Hiraan. 
		
	
	The initiative included support to the Education for All fast track initiative (FTI) to support fragile, conflict and post-conflict states. In September 2008, in New York, the UK announced a further contribution to the FTI of £50 million to add to our existing commitment of £150 million.
	The initiative also announced a £20 million grant through UNICEF to help deliver education in emergency, conflict and post-crisis countries. To ensure that this support will have maximum impact, we have recently agreed a common monitoring and evaluation framework with UNICEF and partners to align the grant with the multi-donor Transition Fund held by UNICEF and expect to make disbursements shortly. In addition, DFID is providing UNICEF with £4 million per year to build UNICEF's capacity in humanitarian response, including in the education sector. DFID has worked with UNICEF to ensure that this includes the full funding of a project setting up a roster of education experts for deployment in emergencies.

Pakistan: Overseas Aid

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, column 119W, on Pakistan: overseas aid, what the key performance indicators are for each of the 10 programmes referred to.

Douglas Alexander: For each of the 10 programmes referred to we will monitor progress in the following areas:
	 General Budget Support
	Macro economic policy.
	Government expenditure on poverty related activities.
	Education sector performance.
	Implementation of commitments on human rights.
	Improvements in public financial management.
	 Pakistan Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation
	Availability of finance for landless families to buy plots for house-building.
	Immunisation for children under two years.
	Proportion of population having access to safe water and improved sanitation services.
	Epidemics averted by a disease early warning system.
	Proportion of poor and vulnerable people with access to education and health services.
	Gross and net school enrolment rates.
	 National Health Facility
	Contraceptive prevalence rates among married women.
	Coverage of fully immunised children.
	Percentage of female sex workers using a condom during last sex act (also relevant for the HIV/AIDS programme).
	Percentage of injecting drug users always using new syringe (also relevant for the HIV/AIDS programme).
	TB case detection rate.
	TB treatment success rate.
	Malaria prevalence rates (passive case detection).
	Prevalence of underweight children.
	 Strengthening Education in Pakistan:
	Access to education (particularly for grades 0 to grade 12.)
	Transition of girls from primary to middle schools in the public sector.
	Drop-out and completion rates among girls enrolled in grades 6 to 10.
	Governance and institutional performance.
	 Maternal and Newborn Health
	Proportion of births attended by skilled birth attendants.
	Proportion of births in public/private health facilities.
	Proportion of pregnant women visiting health facility for pre-natal consultation.
	Proportion of rural health centres providing 24/7 basic, and district hospitals providing 24/7 comprehensive emergency obstetric and neonatal care services.
	Maternal and neonatal case fatality rates in health facilities.
	Proportion of population in reproductive age group satisfied with public reproductive and child health services.
	 Financial Inclusion Programme
	Number of microfinance borrowers.
	Proportion of women with access to formal or semi-formal financial services.
	Proportion of young people with access to formal or semi-formal financial services.
	Proportion of female managers in the microfinance industry.
	Outreach of financial services to underserved areas.
	Increase in small enterprise credit.
	Microfinance clients' interest savings.
	 Polio Programme
	Number of wild polio virus cases reported.
	Non-polio Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) cases per 100,000 children less than 15 years of age during 2008 and 2009.
	 HIV/AIDS Programme
	Percentage of blood transfusions in public sector that are screened for HIV, Hepatitis B and C.
	Percentage of injecting drug users always using new syringe in last month (this indicator is also relevant for the NHF programme above).
	Percentage of female sex workers using a condom during last sex act (this indicator is also relevant for the NHF programme above).
	 Humanitarian Assistance to Flood Victims and Internally Displaced People
	Demonstrable reductions in mortality and morbidity following DFID-funded interventions in camps.
	Reductions in the numbers of reported human rights abuses or abductions following DFID-funded interventions.
	Cluster approach is adopted and maintained where appropriate.
	Programmes are implemented in concurrence with DFID Humanitarian policy.
	 Devolved Social Servi ces Programme Financial Support
	Proportion of deliveries conducted by trained health professionals.
	Antenatal care services.
	Literacy and primary education rates.
	Proportion of lowest income quintile accessing services.
	Gender ratios for accessing basic health units.
	Proportion of fully immunised children in rural areas.
	Female gross enrolment rates for primary education.
	Enrolment rates for handicapped children.
	Family planning services for married women.
	Water sources.
	Bed-occupancy rates.
	Per-capita utilisation of health facilities.
	Absenteeism rates for doctors and teachers.
	Number of non-functional schemes made functional.
	Increase in capacity to deliver basic social services at provincial and local government levels.
	Availability and use of funds for operation and maintenance of service delivery (proxy).
	Facility staffing and service delivery rationalisation (proxy).
	Allocations and expenditures provincial level social sectors.

Pakistan: Overseas Aid

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much UK development aid was given to Pakistan in each year since 2000.

Douglas Alexander: Details of the UK's bilateral assistance and imputed multilateral assistance to Pakistan since 2000 are laid out in the following tables.
	
		
			  Table 1: UK total bilateral gross public expenditure on development, 2000-01 to 2007-08, Pakistan 
			   £000 
			 2000-01 15,890 
			 2001-02 44,838 
			 2002-03 46,852 
			 2003-04 66,299 
			 2004-05 55,277 
			 2005-06 97,688 
			 2006-07 118,150 
			 2007-08 88,145 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Imputed UK share of multilateral official development assistance (ODA), 2000-01 to 2006-07, Pakistan 
			   £000 
			 2000-01 3,072 
			 2001-02 25,063 
			 2002-03 39,605 
			 2003-04 14,324 
			 2004-05 13,783 
			 2005-06 56,655 
			 2006-07 20,812

Plain English

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much has been spent by his Department on Plain English Campaign training courses for its staff in each year since 2005.

Michael Foster: It is not possible, without incurring disproportionate costs, to provide the amount spent on Plain English Campaign training courses by the Department for International Development for its staff in each year since 2005.
	Sub-departments and overseas offices within DFID are responsible for arranging and financing staff training. Information on the amount spent on training courses is not held centrally.

Plain English

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many documents produced by his Department were submitted to the Plain English Campaign for approval for Crystal Mark status in each year since 2005; and how many documents achieved such status in each year.

Michael Foster: Since 2005 the Department for International Development (DFID) has submitted one document to the Plain English Campaign, which achieved crystal mark status. This was the popular version of the 2006 White Paper—"Eliminating world poverty: making governance work for the poor".

Satellites

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what use his Department makes of data obtained from earth observation satellites; and what payment is made for such data where applicable.

Gareth Thomas: During humanitarian crises DFID occasionally makes use of UNOSAT the operational satellite applications programme of the UN Institute for Training and Research. UNOSAT provides the international community with access to satellite imagery via the internet and free of charge. During the Georgia-Russia conflict in August imagery provided by UNOSAT highlighted the deleterious impact of hostilities on civilian infrastructure and the environment.
	Under the multi-donor Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF), to which the UK is contributing £50 million out of a total fund value to date of £100 million, DFID has allocated an additional £8 million for start-up projects that will promote forest conservation in the Congo Basin region. One of these projects, with a budget of £1.14 million, involves a high-resolution camera that will be fixed to a Brazilian satellite. This camera will allow for more effective monitoring of forest use. Another project will allocate up to £1.5 million for the development of a satellite data receiver in central Africa which will expand the knowledge base about forest use and make images easily accessible to regional governments and civil society.

Stabilisation Unit

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which Minister is responsible for the stabilisation unit.

Douglas Alexander: The Stabilisation Unit reports through the Department for the International Development (DFID), Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Ministry of Defence (MOD) to the National Security, International Relations and Development (Overseas and Development) Committee which is chaired by my right hon. Friend, the Foreign Secretary. Strategic direction at official level is provided by quarterly meetings of the three Departments at director level. The unit is accountable administratively for its staff and finances to DFID's Permanent Secretary.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Infant Mortality

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the progress being made towards meeting the fourth Millennium Development Goal on infant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.

Ivan Lewis: The target for Millennium Development Goal Four (MDG 4) is to reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate. The Department for International Development (DFID) recognises that MDG 4 is off track in sub-Saharan Africa, as shown by data published in the United Nations' (UN) latest MDG report. In 1990 the under-five mortality rate was 184 per 1,000, and by 2006 it had only fallen to 157 (compared with the 2015 target of 61). The MDG report notes that
	"despite progress, deaths of under five children remain unacceptably high".
	Although MDG 4 is off track there have been areas of progress and the MDG is achievable by 2015 if action is taken now to implement proven interventions. DFID's commitments include to provide 20 million insecticide treated bed nets in the next three years as part of the fight against malaria, and to spend £6 billion on health systems and services between 2008 and 2015, a significant proportion of which will be in Africa.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Poverty

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many poor people there were in sub-Saharan Africa in 1990; and what estimate he has made of the projected number in 2015.

Ivan Lewis: The number of poor people in sub-Saharan Africa in 1990, using the international poverty line ($1.25 at day at 2005 purchasing power parities), was estimated at 284 million. While the number below this international poverty line had risen to 384 million by 2005, this actually represented a drop in the proportion of poor in the total population of sub-Saharan Africa from 55 per cent. in 1990 to 50 per cent. 2005.
	The accepted source for data of this sort is the World Bank data and research services.
	Further information is available on the World Bank website:
	http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/0,,contentMDK:21882162 ~pagePK:64165401~piPK:64165026~ theSitePK:469382.00.html

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Business: Tax Allowances

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was spent on promoting and raising awareness of the business rates rate relief scheme in the last financial year.

John Healey: It is for local authorities to promote the scheme to local businesses.

Community Allowances

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions she has had with the Department for Work and Pensions on community allowance pilots.

Sadiq Khan: We jointly announced with the Department for Work and Pensions in "Communities in Control: real people, real power" (CM7427) that the CREATE consortium could pilot the community allowance within the existing benefits and permitted work structure. This was part of ongoing discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions to explore how to promote paid community work for out of work benefit claimants to improve their chances of moving into work and benefit the community in which they live.

Cornwall

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent representations she has received on bringing the Cornish under the terms of the Framework Convention on National Minorities.

Sadiq Khan: The Department for Communities and Local Government has no record of any representations received during the last year on bringing the Cornish under the terms of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. The Government's position on this matter was set out by my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Meg Munn) in response to the hon. Member for St. Ives (Andrew George) on 6 March 2007,  Official Report, columns 1871-72W.

Council Housing: Construction

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities built council houses in 2007; and how many houses were completed by each authority in that year.

Margaret Beckett: The 11 local authorities which built council dwellings in 2007-08 were: Durham, Bolton, Blackpool UA, Preston, South Holland, Shrewsbury and Atcham, South Shropshire, Broadland, Hillingdon, Wandsworth, Ashford.
	The following table shows the total number of dwellings completed by each local authority:
	
		
			  Local authority  Number of council dwellings completed in 2007-08 
			 Durham 99 
			 Bolton 22 
			 Blackpool UA 1 
			 Preston 87 
			 South Holland 5 
			 Shrewsbury and Atcham 7 
			 South Shropshire 2 
			 Broadland 40 
			 Hillingdon 30 
			 Wandsworth 4 
			 Ashford 17 
			  Source:  New build completions from P2 quarterly returns submitted by local authorities and the National House-Building Council (NHBC). The local authority level figures are as reported and do not include estimates for missing returns.

Council Tax

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the Valuation Office Agency's local authority liaison meeting of 23 July 2008, what assessment  (a) her Department and  (b) the Audit Commission has made of the effect on local authority costs of council tax backdating.

John Healey: No assessment has been made by Communities and Local Government, or the Audit Commission, of the effect of council tax backdating on local authority costs.

Council Tax

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the likely maximum percentage rise in council tax in 2009-10 for a local authority to avoid capping.

John Healey: No decisions have been taken on capping principles in 2009-10.

Council Tax

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made on the research by the Roger Tym Partnership/Three Dragons on council tax and empty properties; and whether an interim or final report has been submitted to her Department.

John Healey: An interim report was not part of the research specification. Communities and Local Government are currently working with the Roger Tym Partnership/Three Dragons in finalising the report of their work.

Council Tax: Tax Allowances

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the maximum period of residency is for a second adult in a household before that dwelling ceases to qualify for a single person's council tax discount; and what the process is for assessing residency in such cases.

John Healey: There is no maximum period. A dwelling ceases to qualify for the single person's discount when it becomes the sole or main residence of a second adult, unless that second adult falls to be disregarded for these purposes under schedule 1 to the Local Government Finance Act 1992. It is for the billing authority to assess residency in such cases.

Council Tax: Valuation

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the Valuation Office Agency continues to use property information from Rightmove.co.uk plc for council tax valuations and revaluations.

John Healey: The Valuation Office Agency accesses information held by Rightmove.co.uk plc as a cost-effective means of gathering facts about properties to support its work. This work includes maintaining council tax valuation lists, but (does not currently include revaluation) as there is no council tax revaluation taking place in England.

Departmental Buildings

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost to her Department of provision of office facilities to  (a) special advisers and  (b) press officers (i) was in the last 12 months and (ii) has been since 1997-98.

Sadiq Khan: The Department does not record office facilities costs broken down by individual business area or unit and therefore the information requested is not available.

Departmental Consultants

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many external consultants supplying services to her Department under contract.

Sadiq Khan: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Information Officers

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many full-time equivalent press officers  (a) work and  (b) provide assistance for her Department.

Sadiq Khan: As at 29 October, there are 21 full-time equivalent press officers in the Department's communications directorate.
	The hon. Member may wish to refer to The White Book, published by COI. This is available in the Library of the House and contains a listing for members of the Department's communications directorate. The book is updated twice yearly.

Departmental Internet

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many page hits from how many visitors her Department's website received in 2007-08.

Sadiq Khan: The information requested is as follows:
	
		
			   Page views  Unique visitors 
			 April 2007 2,625,967 238,454 
			 November 2007 2,880,443 406,220 
			 December 2007 2,075,505 315,270 
			 January 2008 2,903,445 430,707 
			 February 2008 2,601,167 392,968 
			 March 2008 2,156,194 341,663 
			  Note:  We are unable to provide figures for May to October 2007, due to the impact of work associated with the relaunch of the Department's website in August 2007.

Departmental Internet

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost of maintaining the Departmental website was in 2007-08; and what the forecast cost is for maintaining websites within her responsibility in 2008-09.

Sadiq Khan: We do not hold the information in the format required. The Department pays for its intranet, corporate site and info41ocal on the same contracts and is not able to break this cost down further. Across all three websites we paid £412,094 in 2007-08 for annual hosting charges, licensing, application support and maintenance.
	For information relating to the relaunch of the Department's website in August 2007, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Mr. Dhanda) on 20 May 2008,  Official Report, columns 264-65W.
	Costs for 2008-09 have not yet been finalised.

Departmental Procurement

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Beckenham (Mrs. Lait) of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, column 303W, on departmental procurement, 
	(1)  for what purposes the Deputy Prime Minister's Office used  (a) MC Chauffeurs and  (b) Carlson Wagonlit Travel;
	(2)  what the cost of goods and services purchased from Supplier No.  (a) 405303,  (b) 411763 and  (c) 402446 was during the period that the Deputy Prime Minister's Office existed as a Government department;
	(3)  how much was spent by the Deputy Prime Minister's Office on the Mandarin Oriental Prague; and on what dates the expenditure was incurred;
	(4)  what the cost of goods and services purchased from Company Barclaycard was during the period that the Deputy Prime Minister's Office existed as a Government department.

Sadiq Khan: During the time that the Deputy Prime Minister's Office (DPMO) existed as a separate Government Department:
	 (a) MC Chauffeurs was used for travel on official business;
	 (b) Carlson Wagonlit Travel provided travel agency services to DPMO for international travel on official business;
	 (c) Goods and services supplied by the following vendors were:
	
		
			  Supplier number  Service  Cost (£) 
			 405303 To provide refreshments for official receptions 2,711.90 
			 411763 To provide refreshments following an address to Parliament given by Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the UN 200.22 
			 402446 For travel by officials on official business 9,041.54 
		
	
	 (d) The Office paid £1,985.33 to the Mandarin Oriental Prague for accommodation in connection with a visit to the Czech Republic at the request of the then Prime Minister;
	 (e) The total cost of goods and services purchased via company Barclaycard was £52,078.16. This was subsequently allocated to appropriate budget headings in the resource accounts for DPMO for the appropriate year.
	The Deputy Prime Minister undertook a considerable amount of foreign travel on behalf of the then Prime Minister. He also met a considerable number of visitors from foreign governments and held a number of official receptions. Most of the costs covered by these vendors were incurred undertaking these roles, including the company Barclaycard costs. All expenditure incurred by DPMO was in line with guidelines in Managing Public Money.

Departmental Public Participation

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of her Department's proposed expenditure on citizens' juries in the  (a) present and  (b) next two financial years.

Sadiq Khan: The Department currently has no plans for citizens' juries in this financial year or the next two.

Departmental Recruitment

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many civil servants in her Department were recruited through the fast stream; and what the average salary of those officials is.

Sadiq Khan: The Department's personnel records do not include information on routes of entry into the civil service for all staff. To collect this information would entail disproportionate cost.
	Over the past five years, the Department has recruited, on average, a total of 15 civil servants per year through the fast stream.
	Statistics on intake into the fast stream as a whole are published annually at
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/reports/faststream.
	Copies are available in the Library of the House.

East of England Plan

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the projected cost is of the East of England Plan Review to 2031.

Sadiq Khan: It is not possible to give an accurate projection of the cost of the East of England Plan Review to 2031 since so much relies on the input of partner local authorities and other agencies and organisations.
	The initial stages of the review are the responsibility of the East of England Regional Assembly, which began this work in summer 2008. This work will carry through to 2009-10 when EERA will submit a draft revision of the Regional Spatial Strategy to the Secretary of State. EERA's business plan indicates that the cost of the regional planning function for 2008-09 will be £988,320, including staff costs, service level agreements with local authorities, studies, public consultation and promotion. However, this includes all the activities of the regional planning body, including monitoring and implementation of the RSS and other regional planning work, as well as the Regional Spatial Strategy review.
	An estimate of the costs to the Government office of the latter stages of the process is not available at this stage.

East of England Plan

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost of producing the East of England Plan published in May 2008 was.

Sadiq Khan: The production of the East of England Plan is the culmination of work which started in 2001 and in its initial stages was led by the East of England Regional Assembly. The production of the plan was a broad participatory exercise and, hence, is not easily amenable to costing. For example, significant input was provided by the local authorities within the region.
	The latter stages from receipt of the Panel Report involving Strategic Environmental Assessment, Habitats Regulations Assessment, consultation on the Secretary of State's Proposed Changes (and Further Proposed Changes) and publication of finalised plan were carried out by the Government office for the east of England. Excluding staff costs, total costs were £360,000, or just under six and a halfpence for every resident of the region.

Eco-towns

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what publications related to the eco-towns programme her Department has funded; and on what date each such document was published.

Margaret Beckett: For information on the Department's publications I refer the hon. Member to the Department's website, where all our publications are published electronically, including those related to eco-towns at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/publications/all/
	Additionally, the Department has provided funding to Shelter to assist them in publishing their independent pamphlets "eco-town—facts" on potential eco-town locations. These provide information about the housing situation in and around potential eco-town locations and are available on Shelter's website at:
	http://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_issues/ecotowns
	Shelter inform us that their publications for the following locations were published on the following dates: Pennbury (27 July 2008); Weston Otmoor (29 July 2008), North East Elsenham (31 July 2008); Middle Quinton (18 August 2008); Rushcliffe (11 September 2008); Rossington (13 October 2008); Whitehill-Bordon (17 October 2008); and Marston Vale and St. Austell (22 October 2008).
	We have also provided funding to the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) to look at the practical application of the key sustainability and development criteria for eco-towns, and as part of this they produced a scoping report and are also producing worksheets. These publications have been published on the TCPA's website at:
	http://www.tcpa.org.uk/ecotowns.asp

Empty Dwelling Management Orders

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many Empty Property Management Orders were issued in each local authority in each year since they were introduced.

Margaret Beckett: To date, 15 Interim Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs) have been approved by the Residential Property Tribunal Service (RPTS) since the legislation came into effect in April 2006. Full details are set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Local authority  2007  2008 
			 South Oxfordshire District Council 1 — 
			 Norwich City Council 1 2 
			 Peterborough City Council 1 — 
			 Wychavon District Council 1 — 
			 London Borough of Hounslow 1 — 
			 London Borough of Lewisham 5 — 
			 Swale Borough Council 1 — 
			 Carlisle District Council 1 — 
			 London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham — 1 
			 Total 12 3

Empty Property: Non-domestic Rates

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment has been made of the effect of the increase in empty property business rates on small self-administered pension schemes which own office space.

John Healey: There has not been a specific assessment of the impact of empty property rates on self administered pension schemes. However, an impact assessment detailing the impact of the empty property reforms was published by Communities and Local Government in May 2007 accompanying the introduction of the Rating (Empty Properties) Bill and a further assessment was laid before this House on 26 February accompanying the Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (England) Regulations 2008—Number: 386.

Empty Property: Non-domestic Rates

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the latest estimate is of the expected yearly increase in net revenue arising from the changes to empty property business rates.

John Healey: The information requested was published in the 2007 Budget. It is estimated that the reform of relief from business rates in respect of empty property will increase net tax yields by £950 million in 2008-09 and by £900 million in 2009-10 (and around £900 million thereafter). This estimate reflects the increase in yield from rates, offset against reduced corporation tax yield (because rates are a legitimate deduction from corporation tax) and changes in other tax yields resulting from increased transactions and associated behaviour.

Empty Property: Non-domestic Rates

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans her Department has to obtain information from local authorities on the effect of the new levels of empty property business rates.

John Healey: The Government have asked local authorities, as well as the VOA, to provide information provided on possible avoidance of empty property rates over the course of the first year of the reforms. The information will be based on the informed judgment of individual officers and is being gathered as a broad indicator of the scale of possible avoidance activity and not a detailed survey. There is no suggestion the activity in question is unlawful and we will set out in an appropriate form our general findings in due course.

Empty Property: Non-domestic Rates

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will consider removing business rate charges from empty properties; and if she will make a statement.

John Healey: Government have no current plans to reverse the changes to empty property rate relief introduced from 1 April 2008. However, as with all taxes, we will keep the position under review. Decisions on taxes are a matter for the Chancellor.

Empty Property: Non-domestic Rates

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether empty properties will be liable for  (a) supplementary business rates and  (b) business improvement districts' levy.

John Healey: It is for those developing BID proposals to decide whether empty properties should be liable to pay the BID levy. Primary legislation is needed to give effect to the Government's proposals for Business Rate Supplements set out in "Business rate supplements: a White Paper", published in October 2007. The Government's consultation paper "Preparing Britain for the Future—the Draft Legislative Programme 2008-09" included the Business Rate Supplements Bill in its plans for legislation in next year's parliamentary Session. The Government are consulting on technical issues before finalising detailed arrangements.

Fire Services: Pensions

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many individuals belong to the  (a) new and  (b) old Fire Service Pension Scheme.

Sadiq Khan: The Firefighters' Pension Schemes are administered by English fire and rescue authorities and, on the basis of returns from authorities, in 2007-08 there were 29,000 active and 35,000 pensioner members of the 1992 Firefighters' Pension Scheme and 5,700 active members of the 2006 scheme, with no pensioner members.

Government Offices For The Regions

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the Government Offices for the Regions Network corporate plan.

Sadiq Khan: I can confirm that a copy of the network corporate plan 2008-11 for the Government office network has been placed in the Library of the House.

Home Information Packs

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many individuals have been prosecuted for failure to comply with home information pack duties under the Housing Act 2004 and associated secondary legislation.

Margaret Beckett: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 21 October 2008,  Official Report, column 230W.

Housing: Low Incomes

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the Valuation Office Agency will have access to the National Register of Social Housing.

John Healey: The Valuation Office Agency has not had, and does not have, direct access to this register; there are no plans for such access to be given.

Housing: Low Incomes

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many affordable homes were built in Eastbourne constituency in each of the last 10 years.

Margaret Beckett: Information on affordable homes by constituency is not available. The following table shows the number of new affordable homes built in Eastbourne local authority for each year from 1997-98. The figures include social rent and intermediate affordable housing new build; they exclude affordable housing acquisitions.
	
		
			  New build affordable homes in Eastbourne local authority 
			   New affordable homes—new build 
			 1997-98 150 
			 1998-99 110 
			 1999-2000 0 
			 2000-01 50 
			 2001-02 30 
			 2002-03 20 
			 2003-04 50 
			 2004-05 0 
			 2005-06 40 
			 2006-07 40 
			  Sources: Housing Corporation and returns from local authorities to the Department for Communities and Local Government. 
		
	
	Not all affordable housing is provided by new build completions as some supply can come from acquisitions. In 2006-07, an additional 30 affordable homes in Eastbourne local authority were provided by acquisitions which are not included in the figure above.

Housing: Regeneration

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the financial irregularities were that resulted in fines from the European Commission in relation to regeneration schemes.

John Healey: There has been one financial correction from the European Commission. In 2007, the Commission suspended payments on the North West's 2000-06, ERDF Objective 2 and urban programmes. The Commission applied programme-wide corrections on grounds that aspects of programme management undertaken by the Government Office had not complied sufficiently with the Commission's regulations. The outcome was a financial correction of €25 million which represented less than 4 per cent. of these programme's value. The Department accounted for the correction in the financial year, 2007-08.

Housing: Tax Allowances

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate has been made by  (a) her Department and  (b) the Audit Commission of the level and number of fraudulent claims of council tax (i) second homes discount, (ii) single person discount and (iii) empty homes discount.

John Healey: We have not made estimates of the number of fraudulent claims for any type of council tax discount.

Housing: Valuation

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what reasons a domestic dwelling would be allocated a property details activity code of  (a) 30,  (b) 60 and  (c) 70 by the Valuation Office Agency as part of its council tax valuation work.

John Healey: The Valuation Office Agency's Instructions and Advice (CTR(E) IA 310105) states that code 30 is allocated when data have been obtained from details provided by the occupier or owner. Code 60 is allocated where data are obtained from details supplied by the billing authority or agent. Code 70 is allocated when data are obtained by a physical inspection of the property.

Infrastructure Planning Commission: Finance

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the estimated annual budget of the Infrastructure Planning Commission will be in each of the next three years.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 31 March 2008,  Official Report, column 713W, given to the hon. Member for North Cornwall (Dan Rogerson).

Landfill Tax

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the estimated gross cost to local authorities of landfill tax was in the last year for which figures are available.

John Healey: Local authorities do not record separately the amount spent on landfill tax in the returns which councils submit to the Government.

Licensed Premises: Non-domestic Rates

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her Department's policy is on whether licensed premises which remain open late should be liable for additional sites rates payments.

Sadiq Khan: holding answer 27 October 2008
	I understand the hon. Member's question relates to a matter concerning a licence issued under the Licensing Act 2003 which is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

Lifting the Burdens Task Force

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the Lifting the Burdens Task Force will conclude its work; and what the timetable is for implementation of its recommendations.

John Healey: The Lifting the Burdens Task Force will conclude its programme of work in November with the publication of their final report.
	Individual Department's responses to the recommendations made so far by the task force's are available at
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/liftingburdens/publications/responses/.
	Progress on implementing recommendations will form part of the task force's final report.
	The CLG response to the task force's review of housing and planning was to delete nine best value performance indicators (BVPIs) for 2007-08. The recommendations made in the task force's report on financial management burdens are still being considered.

Local Authorities: Data Protection

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what  (a) rights and  (b) powers councillors have to access information held by the local authority to which they have been elected.

John Healey: A councillor has the same rights to information held by a local authority as a member of the public, under the Freedom of Information Act. In addition, councillors have a right under the Local Government Act 1972 to inspect documents in the local authority's possession. Exceptions to this right do exist, for instance, information relating to individuals. Finally councillors have a common law right to access any material where this is necessary for them to discharge their duties as a councillor, although a request for such information may be subject to a 'need to know' test.

Local Authorities: Housing

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what advice she has issued to  (a) local authorities and  (b) housing associations on promoting the use of (i) credit and (ii) debit cards to their tenants for the payment of (A) monthly rent payments and (B) rent arrears.

Margaret Beckett: The Department published "Improving the Effectiveness of Rent Arrears Management: Good Practice Guidance" in June 2005. It is aimed at all social landlords and all levels of a landlord's rent arrears management service.
	On rent arrears, the guidance makes no explicit reference to debit or credit cards. It stresses the value of preventative measures. It advises landlords, among other things, to ensure that arrears repayment arrangements are realistic by undertaking with the tenant a detailed financial assessment of his or her income and expenditure.
	On rent payment, the guidance advises that landlords should provide a diverse range of methods for tenants to pay their rent. These should be well-publicised, flexible, accessible and convenient to use. While credit and debit cards are included in the range of possible payment methods mentioned, the guidance states that any review of payment methods should consider their effectiveness in minimising arrears.
	The Housing Corporation is aware that the use of credit and debit cards to pay rent and rent arrears has raised concerns. It has not issued any guidance to housing associations on this, as it is for each individual association to decide its own approach to managing rent payment.
	The Housing Corporation supports flexible approaches to the payment of rent and other charges. For many tenants, for example those who may find travelling difficult, being able to use direct debits or online banking provides convenience and security. The Corporation also recognises that it may not be cost-effective for landlords to handle relatively small amounts of cash.
	The Corporation has published a financial inclusion toolkit to assist landlords to recognise and tackle the root causes of multiple indebtedness, and to signpost good quality advice and support. Social landlords are expected to manage rent arrears positively, intervening before debt escalates out of control.

Local Authorities: Planning

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will bring forward proposals to make decisions of the Local Government Ombudsman binding on local authorities.

John Healey: We continue to share the view of the ombudsman, stated in their 2002-03 annual report, that their recommendations to councils not being enforceable in law is a
	"valuable feature facilitating an informal and non-adversarial approach to investigations."

Local Authority Business Growth Incentives Scheme

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many businesses the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative has assisted in each year of its operation; and what its budget for  (a) 2009-10,  (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12 is.

John Healey: Communities and Local Government does not have a central record of the number of businesses the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) has assisted in each year of its operation. The LEGI budget for  (a) 2009-10 is £98.9 million and  (b) 2010-11 is £94 million. Any future funding for 2011-12 would need to be determined in a future spending round.

Local Government Finance

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which organisations assist local authorities with  (a) efficiency measures and  (b) value for money delivery.

John Healey: The information requested is as follows:
	"Prospectus 2008: the guide to Improvement and Efficiency support"
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/725539.pdf
	was published earlier this year by this Department in conjunction with the Local Government Association. It sets out a comprehensive picture of the support which central and local government are providing to local partners to meet the efficiency challenge and deliver better public services, and explains how that support can be accessed.

Local Government Finance

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the publication of the Community Empowerment White Paper, what estimate she has made of the possible additional costs to local authorities of allowing audio or video-based  (a) remote voting and  (b) participation in the meetings referred to.

John Healey: The 'Communities in Control White Paper Impact Assessments' document, available at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/communitiesincontrol6
	contains a breakdown of the White Paper policy costs at annex B of the document.

Local Government Finance

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  whether parish councils which are liable for higher business rates levied on parish council-owned property in areas where the higher tier council has levied a supplementary business rate will receive funding to compensate from  (a) the higher tier council and  (b) the Government;
	(2)  whether district councils which are liable for higher business rates levied on district council-owned property in areas where the county council has levied a supplementary business rate will receive funding to compensate from  (a) the higher tier council and  (b) the Government;
	(3)  whether London boroughs will receive additional funding from the Government to compensate for higher business rates levied from the London supplementary business rate for Crossrail; and whether an estimate has been made of the likely additional cost to London boroughs from such higher rates.

John Healey: 'Business Rate Supplements: a White Paper', published in October 2007, set out the Government's plans to introduce a power for county councils, unitary authorities and the Greater London authority to levy supplements on non-domestic properties with a rateable value over £50,000 in both the public and private sectors. Subject to the legislation required to give effect to these proposals, authorities will also be able to introduce more generous safeguards for local businesses. Any estimate of the likely additional costs falling on non-domestic ratepayers as a result of the levying of a supplement will therefore be for the relevant levying authority. Local authorities are required to pay taxes like any other taxpayer. They have considerable freedom as to how they budget to spend the resources available to them, bearing in mind local priorities and their overall resource position.

Local Government: Pensions

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the estimated cost of the Local Government Pension Scheme to local authority employers is in 2008-09.

John Healey: The most recent published information on the cost of the Local Government Pension Scheme was issued on 15 October 2008 and can be found on the CLG website at:
	http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/stats/pensions.htm
	Details of the costs of the scheme for 2008-09 will be published towards the end of 2009.

Local Government: Standards

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many councils have made a net improvement in their comprehensive performance assessment (CPA) scores since CPA was introduced.

John Healey: For single tier authorities and county councils, 85 moved up by at least one category between 2002-04 and 51 moved up by at least one category between 2005-07.
	For district councils, 42 councils improved performance by at least one category between 2006-08.

Local Government: Standards

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether anonymous complaints, which do not amount to an allegation of criminality, will be considered under the revised standards board regime.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 8 May 2008,  Official Report, column 1077W.

Minister for the South East

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the responsibilities are of the Minister for the South East; and if she will make a statement.

Sadiq Khan: The Prime Minister appointed the Minister for the South East (along with Ministers for each of the other English regions) in June 2007. Their specific roles were specified in the "Governance of Britain" Green Paper, published on 3 July 2007. Their three key functions are to act as:
	"Regional Leaders": working with members, officials and colleagues from all sectors to get beneath the headlines and into the detail of the problems facing the region—and to look for the solutions.
	"Government champions": speaking at a number of key regional events to promote national policies, using these events also to explore how the region can draw on its experience to offer solutions back to Whitehall Departments.
	"Regional Champions": working with colleagues within Whitehall to promote the region's successes; to champion the needs of the region and to ensure that the region's voice is heard—including membership on both the Regional Economic Council and the Council of Regional Ministers in response to the current economic situation.

National Policy Statements

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether national policy statements will be subject to parliamentary approval.

Sadiq Khan: Under the provisions of the Planning Bill, draft national policy statements will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny. The Bill does not require parliamentary approval of national policy statements.

Planning

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the earliest date is on which national policy statements can come into force following Royal Assent to the Planning Bill.

John Healey: Before national policy statements can be designated, they must meet the requirements in the Bill: appraisal of sustainability, public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny. Given this, we believe that the earliest that NPSs are likely to be designated would be in the latter part of 2009.

Planning: Enforcement

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department provides to local authorities on how long their planning enforcement cases should take to be  (a) investigated and  (b) completed; and if she will make a statement.

Margaret Beckett: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Under-Secretary for Communities and Local Government, my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Wright) on 23 October 2008,  Official Report, column 495W.

Rural Areas

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in respect of which of her Department's public service agreements rural proofing of departmental policies is stipulated.

Sadiq Khan: Communities and Local Government leads on two cross-government Public Service Agreements (PSA 20, "Increase long term housing supply and affordability" and PSA 21, "Build more cohesive, empowered and active communities)". Communities and Local Government also contributes to a number of PSAs led by other Government Departments as set out in the relevant PSA Delivery Agreements. It is a requirement for all new policies and programmes to be subject to an impact assessment which includes rural proofing.

Small Business: Tax Allowances

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the estimated aggregate monetary value is of unclaimed small business rate relief in England in the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of the value of small business rate relief that was unclaimed in the latest year for which figures are available.

John Healey: Without a ratepayer making a claim for the relief it is not always possible to establish whether all the eligibility criteria, including whether the ratepayer occupies only one property in England, have been met. Therefore there is no estimated value of unclaimed small business rate relief.

Small Business: Tax Allowances

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether small business rate relief applies to business rate liability for an empty property.

John Healey: No. Small business rate relief applies to occupied properties only.

Small Business: Tax Allowances

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the estimated yearly cost to the public purse of small business rate relief was in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  what the estimated gross yearly revenue is from the extra business rates multiplier on medium-sized and large firms to fund small business rate relief.

John Healey: The small business rate relief scheme is designed to operate at no cost to the public purse. A supplement on the multiplier, used to calculate the rate bills of those not receiving the relief, is set before the start of each year. The supplement is set at a level which attempts to eliminate any surpluses or deficits in previous years.
	Figures showing the net effect of the small business rate relief scheme on local authorities' contributions to the national non-domestic rates pool were published in a statistical release on 17 September 2008 and can be found on the Communities and Local Government website
	http://www.local.cornmunities.gov.uk/finance/ctax/ndr078o.htm
	In 2007-08, local authorities reported that they raised £133 million from the supplement on the multiplier to fund small business rate relief.

Standards Board for England: Finance

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 19 October 2007,  Official Report, column 1343W, on the Standards Board for England: finance, whether a decision has been taken on the total grant to be allocated to the Standards Board and Adjudication Panel for 2008-09.

John Healey: The grant allocation to the Standards Board for England, including the Adjudication Panel, for 2008-09, is £8.285 million.

Stonemasons

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether qualified stonemasons who are not on the British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons may be employed by local authorities to carry out stonemasonry work.

Sadiq Khan: I am not aware of any requirement for qualified stonemasons employed by local authorities to be on the British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departmental Pensions

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department are members of the  (a) Classic,  (b) Classic Plus,  (c) NUVOS and  (d) Premium civil service pension schemes.

Shaun Woodward: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Number  Percentage 
			 Classic 2,820 71.9 
			 Classic Plus 25 0.6 
			 NUVOS 203 5.2 
			 Premium 873 22.3

Departmental Recruitment

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many civil servants in his Department were recruited through the fast stream; and what the average salary of those officials is.

Paul Goggins: There are 20 staff currently employed within the Northern Ireland Office who were recruited through the fast stream process. The current average salary of these officials is £38,000. This figure does not include staff who were recruited into the fast stream prior to joining the Northern Ireland Office.

Departmental Recruitment

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many vacant posts in his Department were advertised in each of the last three years; and at what cost.

Paul Goggins: Open recruitment is used in the Northern Ireland Office to fill individual posts where the skills and qualifications required are not available from within the civil service. It is also used for basic entry level recruitment, such as officer grades in the Northern Ireland Prison Service. The following table provides details of the number of posts advertised along with advertising costs for each of the years requested.
	
		
			   NIO Core Department  NIO Agencies 
			   Number of posts  Advertising costs (£)  Number of posts  Advertising costs (£) 
			 2005-06 69 76,844.74 91 107,886.66 
			 2006-07 34 49,105.27 111 189,461.15 
			 2007-08 9 23,952.65 132 207,270.82

Departmental Security

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many security passes have been reported  (a) lost and  (b) stolen by staff in (i) his Department and (ii) agencies sponsored by his Department in each year since 2001.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is detailed in the following table:
	
		
			   Lost  Stolen  Recovered 
			   NIO  Agencies  NIO  Agencies  NIO  Agencies 
			 2001 9 12 1 0 2 0 
			 2002 5 14 0 0 0 0 
			 2003 12 9 2 0 1 0 
			 2004 15 13 1 2 4 1 
			 2005 5 15 1 1 1 0 
			 2006 12 13 1 0 1 0 
			 2007 11 29 1 0 2 0 
			 2008 2 27 0 0 2 0 
		
	
	The loss of a pass, by whatever means, must be reported to the issuing office, the relevant building security and the Police Service of Northern Ireland. As soon as a pass is reported missing it is electronically deactivated and cannot be used.

Departmental Training

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much his Department spent on external training courses for departmental staff in  (a) 2005,  (b) 2006, ( c) 2007 and  (d) 2008; and which external organisations were paid by the Department to provide such courses in each year.

Paul Goggins: The following table provides a breakdown of expenditure on external training courses for Northern Ireland Office staff for financial years 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2007-08.
	
		
			   Expenditure (£) 
			 2005-06 81,126 
			 2006-07 146,862 
			 2007-08 73,652 
		
	
	The external organisations paid by the Northern Ireland Office to provide external courses are listed as follows.
	 External providers 2005-06
	BIC Systems Ltd.
	British Telecom
	BT Bus Communication
	BT Customer Accounts
	Business Objects (UK) Ltd.
	Centre for Public Policy Seminars
	CIPD NI
	CIPFA
	City Paper Ltd.
	CMPS
	ECSC Ltd.
	Elite Training Services Ltd.
	Emergency Planning College
	Haymarket Publishing Services Ltd.
	Legal Island Ltd.
	Mullan Training
	National Criminal Intelligence Service
	National School of Government
	Pricewaterhouse Coopers
	Siemens Plc
	Skillpath Seminars
	St. John Ambulance London
	St. John Ambulance NI
	Stephen Moore Chartered Accountants
	The Beeches Management Centre
	The Whitehall and Industry Group
	 External providers 2006-07
	Act Now Training Ltd.
	Action Mental Health
	AKSAA Ltd.
	Belfast Institute of Higher and Further Education
	BIC Systems Ltd.
	BT Plc
	Centre for Applied Learning
	Centre for Public Policy Seminars
	CESG The Accountant
	Chief Executives Forum
	CIPFA
	Compumaster
	PODS Parliamentary Communications
	Elite Training Services Ltd.
	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	Hewlett-Packard Ltd.
	Highpoint Adventure Management Ltd.
	Law and Order General
	Legal Island Ltd.
	Mullan Training
	National School of Government
	Neil Stewart Associates
	Parades Commission General
	Parity Solutions
	Paymaster (1836) Ltd.
	Payroll Solutions
	PMA Training Ltd.
	Qinetiq Ltd.
	Reed Learning Plc
	Siemens Plc
	Skillpath Seminars
	St. John Ambulance HQ Worthing
	St. John Ambulance NI
	The Beeches Management Centre
	The Consultation Institute
	The White Paper Conference Company Ltd.
	University of Wales
	White Young Green Consulting Ltd.
	 External providers 2007-08
	Act Now Training Ltd.
	Belfast Institute of Higher and Further Education
	BIALL
	Bill Of Rights Forum General
	BT Plc
	Chief Executives Forum
	CIPFA
	Devolution and Legislation Division General
	Disability Action Employment and Training
	PODS Parliamentary Communications
	Elite Training Services Ltd.
	EOS Systems Ltd.
	Govnet Communications
	Health Promotion Agency for NI
	Industry and Parliament Trust
	Law and Order General
	Legal Island Ltd.
	Local Government Training Group
	McCallum Partnership
	Mullan Training
	National School of Government
	Neil Stewart Associates
	Selex Communications Ltd.
	Siemens Plc
	Skillpath Seminars
	South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
	St. John Ambulance NI
	Sureskills
	Sweet and Maxwell
	The Beeches Management Centre
	The Consultation Institute
	The Royal National Institute for Deaf People
	University of Ulster
	University of Wales

Homophobia: Crime

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many incidents of homophobic crime were recorded in each Police Service of Northern Ireland district command unit area in each of the last 12 months; how many successful prosecutions were brought against those responsible; and what sentence was imposed in each case.

Paul Goggins: Recording of incidents of homophobic crime is a matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House and the  Official Report.
	The information sought on prosecutions and sentences is not available. Prosecution and conviction would be for the simple offence (e.g. assault) without reference to any homophobic motivation. Court data do not contain background information in relation to offences committed, and it is therefore not possible to separate out the number of successful prosecutions and the corresponding sentence imposed for offences with a homophobic motivation.

Office of the Surveillance Commissioner

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to allow the Office of the Surveillance Commissioner to inspect local authorities in Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: Legislative provision already exists at section 61 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 for the appointment of an Investigatory Powers Commissioner for Northern Ireland.

Parades Commission: Expenditure

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent by the Northern Ireland Parades Commission on staff  (a) salaries and  (b) expenses in each year since 2004-05.

Paul Goggins: This is an operational matter for the Parades Commission. I have asked the Parades Commission Secretary to reply to the hon. Member directly, and will arrange for a copy of the letter to be placed in the Library of the House and the  Official Report.

Parades Commission: Public Relations

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what tendering process is followed by the Northern Ireland Parades Commission in the appointment of public relations companies.

Paul Goggins: This is an operational matter for the Parades Commission. I have asked the Parades Commission Secretary to reply to the hon. Member directly, and will arrange for a copy of the letter to be placed in the Library of the House and the  Official Report.

Police Service of Northern Ireland: Equality

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he made of whether institutionalised sectarianism exists within the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: The PSNI Equality and Diversity Unit is responsible for monitoring incidences of recorded bullying and harassment on the grounds of religious beliefs and or political opinion. From 1 January 2005 to 22 October 2008 there have been four cases raised. The PSNI does not believe that there is any evidence to support a view that it is institutionally sectarian.

Police Service of Northern Ireland: Racial Discrimination

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of whether institutionalised racism exists within the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: The PSNI Equality and Diversity Unit is responsible for monitoring incidences of recorded bullying and harassment on the grounds of racist behaviour. From 1 January 2005 to 22 October 2008 there have been no recorded complaints of racist behaviour.
	The PSNI does not believe that there is any evidence to support a view that it is institutionally racist.

Stun Guns

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many incidents have required the use of Taser guns in Northern Ireland since their introduction; and whether there have been any reported instances of injuries requiring hospital treatment as a result of such use.

Paul Goggins: That is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of his letter will be placed in the Library of the House and the  Official Report.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Archaeology

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by what date he expects English Heritage to have completed research into local authority archaeological and conservation staffing levels.

Barbara Follett: Information from English Heritage is that they expect to publish research into local authority archaeological and conservation staffing levels early in 2009, following a period of consultation with the sector.

Arts: Finance

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the proportion of expenditure on the arts which was funded by  (a) public money,  (b) sponsorship and  (c) other sources in 2007-08.

Barbara Follett: The expenditure on arts in the year 2007-08 which was funded by public money (lottery and Exchequer funding) is as follows:
	The amount drawn down by the Lottery Arts Distributors, consisting of Arts Council England, the Scottish Arts Council, Arts Council of Wales, and Arts Council of Northern Ireland, according to the un-audited National Lottery Distribution Fund's Annual Accounts in 2007-08 was £198.434 million.
	In addition, some grants made by the Big Lottery Fund may have benefited groups related to the arts.
	The amount of grant funding provided by Arts Council England was £377.113 million.
	My Department does not hold records of the expenditure on arts from either sponsorship or other sources. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Arts: Finance

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent from the public purse per head on the arts in  (a) rural areas and  (b) urban areas in 2007-08.

Barbara Follett: We do not draw a distinction between urban and rural areas and the Arts Council do not record allocations by rural, urban or suburban area. A list of Arts Council England's funding for arts in 2007-08, broken down by constituency, will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Bank Services

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether he has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on changes to the lending policies of those banks recapitalised with public money in areas relevant to his responsibility.

Andy Burnham: I have regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of current topics.

BBC: Manpower

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people are employed by the BBC.

Andy Burnham: The BBC annual report and accounts 2007-08 indicate that the average number of people employed was 24,331.
	This is broken down as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 UK Public Service Broadcasting 17,677 
			 BBC World Service and BBC Monitoring 2,219 
			 Commercial Businesses 3,205 
			 Casuals 851 
			 BBC Orchestra and BBC Singers 379

Clothing: Greater London

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to ensure  (a) that London is a competitive centre for fashion and  (b) those working in the industry are encouraged to continue to work in the UK.

Barbara Follett: In February this year the Government published 'Creative Britain—New Talents for a New Economy', a strategy for the Creative Economy in the UK, which sets out in 26 commitments the Government's determination to move the creative industries from the margins to the mainstream of the UK economy. Fashion industry initiatives, both for London as a national and international fashion centre, and for those working in the industry in this country, are central to the strategy.
	Creative Britain includes plans to tackle problems faced by the industry and to encourage and support its growth through education, access to technology and to business support, as well as a commitment to promote British fashion on the world stage.
	For example, the strategy sets out plans to explore support for the British Fashion Council (BFC) to build on its strengths and become a central voice leading the fashion industry. We will work with the industry and with Skillfast UK, the Sector Skills Council for the fashion, textile and apparel industries, to create new apprenticeship opportunities as part of a new Creative Apprenticeships initiative. We will also help the London College of Fashion, the BFC, Skillfast and others to scope a project to develop a High-Fashion Hub for London; this project is intended to be a model for the fashion sector elsewhere in the country.
	We will work with the Mayor of London to champion London Fashion Week and help it fight to retain its status as a focal event in the industry calendar amidst increasingly strong international competition.
	The strategy publication can be read in full at
	http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/CEPFeb2008.pdf.

Conferences: Greater London

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of London's standing in the International Congress and Convention Association's rankings of countries and changes in those rankings over the last three years.

Barbara Follett: London's position in the International Congress and Convention Association's (ICCA) rankings for 'number of meetings per city' has fallen over the past three years. However, the UK remained in the top four countries in the rankings of 'number of meetings held per country' over this same period. ICCA advises commentators not to interpret their statistics in isolation, as they only record events that take place regularly and rotate between at least three countries. These statistics do not take into account the corporate and inter-governmental sectors.
	In partnership with the industry and the wider public sector, the DCMS has a clear and coherent policy framework for industry growth, including branding and marketing improvement led by VisitBritain.
	The 2012 Olympic games and Paralympic games presents the UK tourism industry with its greatest-ever opportunity. Early indications from eventBritain and Visit London are that much interest has been expressed in holding large international events and conventions in London in the period up to the games and beyond.

Departmental Allowances

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent on staff expenses in each of the last three years.

Barbara Follett: The table sets out expenses incurred in respect of travel and subsistence, including minor incidental expenses to departmental officials.
	All official travel is undertaken in accordance with rules set out in the Department's staff guide under Travel and Subsistence and is consistent with the Civil Service Management Code.
	
		
			   Total expenses £ 
			 2007-08 450,649.33 
			 2006-07 529,873.61 
			 2005-06 602,508.35

Departmental Information Officers

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many full-time equivalent press officers  (a) work and  (b) provide assistance for his Department.

Gerry Sutcliffe: There are 13 full-time equivalent press officers working in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and they all provide assistance for the Department.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the cost to the public purse of his Department was in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08.

Andy Burnham: The total departmental spending (and therefore the cost to the public purse) of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 2006-07 was £4,623,291,000.
	The figures for 2007-08 are not due to be published until late 2008. The estimated outturn figure published in the 2008 DCMS annual report is £4,898,899,000.
	For ease of reference the data can also be found on page 13 of the following link and page 52 of the annual report, under 'Total departmental spending: DCMS'.
	http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/DCMS_Annual_Report_08_03.pdf.

Departmental Publications

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department spent on publishing in each of the last three years, broken down by  (a) publication and  (b) category of publication.

Barbara Follett: The amount spent on publishing for each of the last three years was:
	
		
			   Spent on publishing (£) 
			 2005-06 191,854.56 
			 2006-07 143,283.50 
			 2007-08 303,218.50 
		
	
	 (a) The breakdown by publication is as follows:
	
		
			  Publication title  Cost (ex VAT) (£) 
			  April 2005 to March 2006  
			 Gambling Act 2005: What it means for Licensing Authorities 769.31 
			 Listing Criteria—Public Consultation 2,346.44 
			 Ecclesiastical Exemption 581.62 
			 Hague Convention Consultation 5,549.34 
			 Marine Consultation—Analysis of responses 581.62 
			 Treasure Annual Report 28,581.71 
			 Museums Acquisitions 2,976.80 
			 Human Remains Code of Practice 3,984.31 
			 Open House Leaflet 368.00 
			 Total Reward Leaflet 2,209.00 
			 Sustainable Development Plan 2,955.50 
			 DCMS Annual Report 46,229.30 
			 Abolition of Slavery leaflet 1,861.47 
			 Lottery Good Causes Consultation 1,143.25 
			 Digital Housing Project (reprint) 1,350 
			 Communicating with the over 65 years: Desk Research document 1,010.50 
			 Digital Expert Group report document 503 
			 The role of higher and further education in the Creative Industries full document 4,180 
			 The role of higher and further education in the Creative Industries A4 summary 1,138 
			 The role of higher and further education in the Creative Industries flyer 920 
			 Market for Art: Government reply to 6th report CMS committee 1,580.00 
			 Report on Theatre: Government response to CMS committee 1,690.00 
			 Public Libraries: Government response to CMS select Committee, 1,910.00 
			 DCMS Resource Accounts 4,619.49 
			 Export of objects of cultural interest 12,243 
			 National Lottery Distribution fund 2,326.00 
			 Government response to committee report on charter review 1,544.00 
			 Spoliation Advisory Panel report 3,164.00 
			 BBC White Paper 15,311.90 
			 Broadcasting Cricket document 3,164.00 
			 Spoliation Advisory Panel/4 drawings 1,740.00 
			 Government response to Lords Select Committee on charter Review 1,544.00 
			 DCMS Business Plan reprint 1,350.00 
			 Dynamic Action Plan 1,540.00 
			 Dance Link brochure 11,912.00 
			 BBC Charter White Paper 17,765 
			 Sustainable Development Action Plan 2,812 
			 Total 191,854.56 
			   
			  April 2006 to March 2007  
			 About Us (Amendments and reprint) 1,375.88 
			 Gambling Act: Transitional Arrangements Consultation 1,233.70 
			 Laying the Foundations 12,992.00 
			 Nurturing Creativity in Young People 14,310 
			 Digital Expert Group report (July 2006) document 457.50 
			 Gambling Act: Fees document 1,545 
			 Spoliation Advisory Panel—Ashmolean Report 3,164.00 
			 Tourism Consultation document 8,500 
			 Working Together: local authorities and DCMS 8,500 
			 BBC Further Revised Draft Royal Charter 330 
			 BBC Revised Draft Royal Charter and BBC Revised Draft Framework Agreement 2,227 
			 BBC Draft Royal Charter and Framework Agreement 2,760 
			 DCMS Business Plan 2006-07 3,503 
			 DCMS annual report 19,083.85 
			 Creativity Review 440 
			 Museums Strategy 2,923 
			 BROADCASTING: Copy of Royal Charter for the Continuance of the British Broadcasting Corporation (Cm 6925) 1,587 
			 The Community Radio Sector: Looking to the Future 2,796 
			 Export of Objects of Cultural Interest 2005-06 11,950 
			 Heritage Protection for the 21st Century (Cm 7057) 9,550 
			 Government Response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee Report on 'London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games: Funding and Legacy'(Cm 7071) £960 
			 Government Response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee Inquiry into Call TV quiz shows (Cm 7072) 552 
			 Treasure report 25,260 
			 Heritage Protection Review 7,283.50 
			 Total 143,283.50 
			   
			  April 2007 to March 2008  
			 Cm 7057: Heritage Protection for the 21(st) Century 9,520 
			 Cm 7071: Government Response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee Report on "London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games: Funding and Legacy" (HC69) 960 
			 Cm 7072: Government Response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee Inquiry into Call TV quiz shows 552 
			 Cm 7088: Government Response to the Science and Technology Select Committee Report on Human Enhancement Technologies 948 
			 Cm 7118: The Digital Switchover Help Scheme: A Scheme Agreement Between Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and the British Broadcasting Corporation 2,299 
			 Cm 7184: Government Response to the NAO Review of the Experiences of UK Nationals Affected by the Indian Ocean Tsunami 1,652 
			 Cm 7309: Government Response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee Report on Public Service Content (HC36-1) 1,269 
			 Public Appointments and Public Bodies 2,935 
			 Winning: A tourism strategy for 2012 and beyond 27,321 
			 Winning: A tourism Strategy for 2012 and beyond—Executive summary 6,625 
			 London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Annual Report January 2008 22,805 
			 Staying Ahead: the economic performance of 62,466 
			 111 flyer 275 
			 HC63 Report of the Spoliation Advisory Panel in respect of three Rubens Paintings 1,571 
			 London Open House leaflet 675 
			 Export of Objects of Cultural interest 2005-06 12,627 
			 CM7236 Government Response to House of Lords Select Committee on Communications 460 
			 CM7186 Government Response to the Culture, Media and Sport select committee report into New Media and the Creative Industries 712 
			 Our Promise for 2012: How the UK will benefit from the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games 19,469 
			 Our Promise for 2012: How the UK will benefit from the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (Welsh version) 2,847 
			 Our Promise for 2012: How the UK will benefit from the Olympic Games and Paralympic leaflet 10,570 
			 Our Promise for 2012: How the UK will benefit from the Olympic Games and Paralympic leaflet (Welsh version) 982 
			 Sustainable development action plan 1,487.50 
			 Culture on Demand: Ways to engage a Broader audience 16,220 
			 Culture and Creativity in 2007 8,949 
			 Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) scheme leaflet 2,357 
			 Helping keep your child safe in sport: Child protection leaflet for parents 7,060 
			 Findings and Recommendation of the Live Music Forum 39,793 
			 Final Report of the Casino Advisory Panel 12,600 
			 Treasure Annual Report 2004 24,114 
			 Cenotaph Memorial Order of service 1,098 
			 Total 303,218.50 
		
	
	 (b) The breakdown by category of publication follows:
	
		
			  Category of publication  Cost (£) 
			 Reports 318,814.23 
			 Leaflets 28,769.35 
			 Consultations 18,772.73 
			 Statutory reports and select committee responses 272,000.25

Departmental Sick Leave

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff in  (a) his Department,  (b) its agency and  (c) the non-departmental bodies for which it has responsibility have taken sick days due to (i) stress and (ii) mental health and behavioural disorders in each of the last 10 years; what proportion of staff of each body this figure represented in each such year; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: As part of the Department's Diversity and Health and well-being policies, we have a range of initiatives and programmes in place to support staff and to manage stress, mental health and behavioural issues.
	Furthermore, in order to raise awareness of stress and mental health issues we have implemented a range of initiatives and guidance for managers and staff to manage mental health problems in the workplace including an initiative to tackle the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness.
	We regularly monitor sickness absence and reasons for absences as a means to tackle attendance issues and provide support to our staff. This support ranges from a 24 hour employee assistance programme, occupational health referral, rehabilitation programme for staff and reasonable adjustments to work or the working environment.
	Our work-life balance and lifestyle programme supports our "stress at work" policy allowing staff to manage stress through achievement of effective work-life balance.
	We have robust procedures in place to manage sickness absence within the Department and the policy includes guidance for staff on how to preserve and maintain their own and others' mental well-being, this includes information on preventing and identifying stress.
	The Department has completed a stress audit recently and the overall departmental analysis shows that there are no areas of high risk stress across the Department, and only three areas of medium risk. We are now in the process of drawing up an action plan to address the issues highlighted in the report. We will also be running a health event in November which will aim to raise awareness of health and well-being issues.
	The Department's sick pay policy pays for sickness absence on full pay for up to six months in any period of 12 months absence—followed by half pay for sickness of up to a maximum of 12 months in any period of four years or less.
	
		
			  Table 1: Department for Culture, Media and Sport 
			   Stress  Mental and behavioural 
			   Number of staff  Proportion of staff( 1)  (Percentage)  Number of staff  Proportion of staff( 1)  (Percentage) 
			 2003-04 7 1.4 6 1.2 
			 2004-05 5 1.0 5 1.0 
			 2005-06 8 1.6 5 1.0 
			 2006-07 8 1.5 2 0.4 
			 2007-08 6 1.2 2 0.4 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: The Royal Parks Agency 
			   Stress  Mental and behavioural 
			   Number of staff  Proportion of staff( 1)  (Percentage)  Number of staff  Proportion of staff( 1)  (Percentage) 
			 2003-04 6 2.5 1 0.4 
			 2004-05 11 6.8 8 4.9 
			 2005-06 3 2.3 2 1.6 
			 2006-07 3 3.0 2 2.0 
			 2007-08 2 2.0 0 0.0 
			 (1) Proportion of staff—this figure is based on average staff in post for each year.  Notes: 1. Table 1 shows the results for DCMS only. DCMS only holds sickness absence data dating back to 2003. 2. Table 2 shows the results for The Royal Parks Agency—DCMS's executive agency only. The Royal Parks Agency only holds sickness absence data dating back to 2003. 
		
	
	The information in relation to the non-departmental public bodies could be provided only at disproportionate costs.

Departmental Surveys

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of  (a) his Department's most recent annual staff survey,  (b) the staff perception of the Department's ability to manage change and  (c) the staff perception of communications within the Department and with NDPBs; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department held its last staff survey in June 2007. The results were analysed and presented to the Executive Committee in September 2007. The results showed that in both areas of change management and communication there is scope for improvement, and this has been reflected in the resulting action plan. We have also introduced a programme of regular pulse surveys to ensure that we continue to monitor progress against the action plan, including communications with our NDPBs.

Digital Switchover Help Scheme

Don Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions he has had with broadcasters on introducing talking menus as part of the digital switchover.

Andy Burnham: There have been no recent discussions with broadcasters about talking menus. However, a talking Electronic Programme guide is being developed by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and its industry partners. My Department is keeping this development under review and will consider the case for including the new equipment in the Digital Switchover Help Scheme at a suitable point in the future.

Football: Management

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many recommendations Lord Burns' review into the Football Association made; and how many of his recommendations have been implemented in the areas of  (a) corporate governance and  (b) transparency.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 27 October 2008
	Lord Burns' independent review, commissioned by the Football Association (FA), recommended a number of measures designed to reform their decision-making structure in order to make it a more modern, effective and representative governing body for football. His recommendations fell into five main areas: a reformed FA board headed by an independent chairman; a broader, more representative FA Council to act as the "parliament of football"; a new semi-autonomous regulation and compliance body; the creation of a Community Football Alliance to bridge the governing body functions for the professional and national sides of the game; and a funding formula to clearly set out the distribution of FA surpluses.
	The recommendations were approved by the FA Council in October 2006 and by the AGM in May 2007. Since that time the new FA board has been introduced, with five representatives for each of the professional and national game, alongside the FA CEO and Lord Triesman as the FA's first independent chairman. In addition, the FA Council has expanded to incorporate greater representation for players, supporters, managers, referees, ethnic minorities, disability football, women's football and other areas of the game. The new Football Regulatory Authority acts as an oversight body for the FA's governance and regulation activities. The funding formula is also now in operation and measures have been putt in place to bridge the gap between the professional and national games.
	As part of the monitoring process the FA will review the changes they have put in place at Council, Board and Football Regulatory Authority level by 2012.

Freeview Service: Hemel Hempstead

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the availability of Freeview in Hemel Hempstead; and if he will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: Most of Hemel Hempstead and its surrounding areas receive signals from the 'Hemel Hempstead' transmitter at Bedmond. This transmitter already broadcasts digital signals and digital terrestrial television (DTT) coverage and should be generally good. There is a small area in the centre of the town where terrain and tall buildings screen viewers from the main Hemel Hempstead transmitter. In that area, viewers receive signals from the much smaller 'Hemel Hempstead Town' relay transmitter. Hemel Hempstead Town only broadcasts four analogue services at present and therefore DTT reception will not be possible for viewers that rely on it.
	When switchover occurs, Hemel Hempstead Town relay will be converted to broadcast digital services and the power of the digital services from the transmitter at Bedmond will also be increased. These two measures should improve the reception reliability of the digital services and extend their reach to match that of the analogue services they replace. Switchover is due to occur in the ITV London region in 2012.

Gaming Machines

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what advice the Gambling Commission has issued on the use of gambling terminals; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I understand that the Gambling Commission has not issued any formal advice on the use of gambling terminals.
	Further details of the Gambling Commission's research programme and published advice are available at:
	www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk

Gaming Machines

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment he has made of whether betting shop gambling terminals comply with the Government's licensing policy objectives.

Gerry Sutcliffe: In July the Gambling Commission advised me of the results of an initial desk-based exercise which looked at international research on the risks associated with high stakes, high prize gaming machines.
	The Commission does not consider there to be any research that establishes whether there is a causal link between high stake machines and problem gambling, though the existing research shows that such machines are particularly attractive to those at risk of problem gambling and those with a gambling problem.
	The Commission is continuing its research on the impact of high-stake, high-prize gaming machines including category B2 machines formerly known as Fixed Odds Betting Terminals. The work programme includes qualitative research and quantitative analysis of existing data. It is also convening an international panel of experts to help develop the future research programme. The Commission will provide me with an update next summer.

Heritage Protection Bill

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects to publish the draft Heritage Protection Bill.

Barbara Follett: The Government published the draft Heritage Protection Bill on 2 April 2008.

London 2012: Learning Disability

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions his Department has had with  (a) other Government Departments and  (b) non-governmental organisations on the provision of funding to elite athletes with learning disabilities to facilitate their participation in the London 2012 Olympics following the announcement by the International Paralympics Committee that such athletes will be eligible to compete.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 27 October 2008
	The Government welcome the joint statement by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and International Sports Federation for People with an Intellectual Disability (INAS-FID) on 13 September and notes that inclusion of athletes with an intellectual disability in future Paralympics will be considered by the IPC General Assembly in November 2009.
	The Government are fully supportive of the efforts to see athletes with an intellectual disability competing once again in the Paralympics and the Minister for Sport and Minister for Disabled People have met previously with the President of the IPC and INAS-FID to discuss this issue and to encourage early resolution.
	Since the joint statement there have been no discussions between my Department and other Government Departments or non-Government organisations regarding the provision of funding to these athletes to facilitate their participation in London 2012.

Powers of Entry

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many powers of entry have been  (a) introduced and  (b) abolished by his Department through legislation since 1997.

Barbara Follett: (a) Since 1997, my Department has introduced powers of entry in five different Acts. These are:
	
		
			  Act  Section number(s)  Number of powers 
			 Communications Act 2003 366 1 
			 Gambling Act 2005 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315 10 
			 Licensing Act 2003 59, 90, 96, 97, 108, 179, 180 7 
			 London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 22, 28, 31 3 
			 Olympic Symbol etc Protection Act 1995 (as amended by the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006) 8A 1 
			
			 Total  22 
		
	
	It is to be noted, however, that a significant number of the powers of entry listed above are in essence powers that already existed elsewhere in legislation which has been updated.
	 (b) It is not possible to determine which powers of entry have been abolished without incurring disproportionate costs. It has been possible to answer the first part of the question without incurring disproportionate costs because an internal Government review of powers of entry is currently under way. That review, however, does not extend to powers of entry which have been abolished.

Sport England: Internet

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many unique users visited Sport England's Active Places website in each year since its introduction in 2004.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Sport England advise that they do not record the number of 'hits' on the active places website. Instead, they record only the number of visitors using the tools and applications on the site. Figures provided by Sport England for each of the last four calendar years are as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2004 59,660 
			 2005 161,506 
			 2006 204,348 
			 2007 218,378 
		
	
	The Active Places website was launched in July 2004 and therefore the figures for that year are significantly smaller than for the other years.

Tourism: Balance of Payments

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the tourism balance of payments in each year since 1997.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 30 October 2008
	The following table indicates the UK tourism balance of payments deficit.
	
		
			   £ billion 
			 1997 4.7 
			 1998 6.8 
			 1999 9.5 
			 2000 11.4 
			 2001 14.0 
			 2002 15.2 
			 2003 16.7 
			 2004 17.2 
			 2005 17.9 
			 2006 18.4 
			 2007 19.0 
			  Source: International Passenger Survey (ONS) 
		
	
	These figures have been produced using a range of data sources including the UK Tourism Survey and the International Data Survey.

Tourism: Training

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recommendations he has received from the Sector Skills Council on improving the skills of staff working in the tourism industry.

Barbara Follett: My Department has received detailed recommendations from People 1st on improving the skills of staff working in the tourism industry. These recommendations were outlined in Raising the Bar: the National Skills Strategy for hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector in England, which was launched in March 2007. An action plan was produced in November 2007.
	The strategy outlines a 10-point plan to improve skills in the priority areas of management and leadership, chefs and customer service, as well as to improve staff retention by supporting and developing employees and making them aware of career development opportunities. It was developed by People 1st following extensive research with 5,000 employers about their skills needs and a review of training and qualifications. This was supported by my Department through four Ministerial Skills summits between 2005 and 2007 which received recommendations from four employer working groups.
	The 10-point plan includes an online skills and employment resource called the UKSP which provides a wealth of benefits for businesses looking to improve training in their organisations and for individuals looking to develop careers in the industry, by matching skilled applicants to good employers. The plan also includes action to reform qualifications, support for small businesses, establish a new national skills academy for hospitality to raise standards of delivery of training, improve the quality of apprenticeships, develop new 14-19 diplomas in hospitality and in travel and tourism, launch a campaign to promote careers and improve perceptions of jobs in the sector, and develop a pre-employability package aimed at jobseekers. Further details can be found at:
	http://www.culture.gov.uk
	I met People 1st in my first few weeks as Tourism Minister and I will be working closely with them and the new academy to ensure that these recommendations are implemented consistently across England. As part of this, I will be chairing the second meeting of the National Skills Strategy Monitoring and Implementation Group later this year, to review how all partners—public and private—are helping take the recommendations forward, and address any barriers to implementation.

VisitBritain: Finance

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding his Department provided for Visit Britain  (a) in 2008-09 and  (b) in each of the previous five years.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 30 October 2008
	The VisitBritain grant in aid settlement for the years in question is set out in the following table.
	
		
			   Total (£ million) 
			 2003-04 47.9 
			 2004-05 48.4 
			 2005-06 49.05 
			 2006-07 50.05 
			 2007-08 49.05 
			 2008-09 47.6 
			  Source: DCMS.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Research

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department spent on research on new farming systems in each of the last five years.

Jane Kennedy: DEFRA has invested in research activities in several programmes, since 2003-04, that contribute to development of sustainable farming systems. Industry have joint funded some of the work within LINK programmes.
	Total spend for each of the last five years is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Financial year  Spend (£) 
			 2003-04 4,206,843 
			 2004-05 4,922,011 
			 2005-06 4,528,454 
			 2006-07 5,333,833 
			 2007-08 6,572,578 
			 2008-09 6,763,653 
		
	
	These figures are taken from the DEFRA Science Information System database.

Animal Products: Waste Disposal

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what facilities the Government have authorised to  (a) render and  (b) incinerate animal waste and meat and bone meal in the event of a disease outbreak.

Jane Kennedy: In the event of an outbreak of notifiable animal disease for which DEFRA is responsible for carcase disposal, the Department would seek to use the nearest rendering plant or large animal incinerator approved under the Animal By Product Regulations and which is suitably permitted under waste management regulations. The facilities used will depend on the number of carcases to be disposed and the species concerned.
	A full list of ABPR Approved facilities can be found on the DEFRA website.
	The plant operator is responsible for the disposal of any meat and bone meal or tallow that is produced.

Animal Welfare

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what regulations cover the minimum space requirements for  (a) poultry,  (b) sheep,  (c) pigs,  (d) cows and  (e) other livestock during transportation by (i) rail, (ii) road and (iii) water; and what the minimum requirement is in each case.

Jane Kennedy: On 5 January 2007, a regulation on the protection of animals during transport came into force across the European Union (EU), with some elements coming into force in 2008 and 2009.
	The regulation applies to all those involved with the transport of live vertebrate animals in connection with an economic activity.
	Article 3 (general conditions for the means of transport) of regulation 1/2005 states:
	"No person shall transport animals or cause animals to be transported in a way likely to cause injury or undue suffering to them."
	In addition point (g) of Article 3 states:
	"Sufficient floor area and height is provided for the animals, appropriate to their size and the intended journey."
	This applies to all animals. This will also cover species that do not have specific space requirements within the regulation.
	I have placed details of the minimum requirements for the species named, in the Library.

Animals: Disease Control

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect of cost and responsibility sharing for animal disease on the effectiveness and profitability of British farming.

Jane Kennedy: The Government intend to consult on specific proposals for sharing responsibilities and costs for animal health in England later this year. These proposals will be fully costed and accompanied by an initial impact assessment.

Bees: Disease Control

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what consideration he has given to licensing treatment of the varroa mite.

Jane Kennedy: There are currently three products authorised for the control of varroa in the UK; Apiguard Gel, Apistan and Bayvarol Strips.
	Details of these products are available on the Veterinary Medicines Directorate's website.

Biofuels

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the effect of trends in biofuel production on food prices.

Jane Kennedy: The Government commissioned Ed Gallagher, chairman of the Renewable Fuels Agency, to lead a study on the indirect effects of biofuel production, including the impact on food prices.
	The Gallagher Review, published in July this year, concluded that increasing demand for biofuels contributes to rising prices for some commodities, notably for oil seeds. For most crops however, price rises in the longer term are rarely more than 5 per cent. But the risk of impacts on food prices is one of the reasons why we are calling for a more cautious approach for biofuels.
	Biofuels are not the only reason why food prices have increased in recent years. Other factors include smaller harvests in 2007 because of droughts; higher fertiliser and oil prices; rising GDP; and changing diets leading to a higher demand for animal feed.

Bluetongue Disease: Vaccination

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which counties will be prioritised in the roll-out of the bluetongue vaccination strategy from May 2009.

Jane Kennedy: The 2009 vaccination strategy for Bluetongue serotype 8 is currently being discussed with stakeholders. Further details will be announced following these discussions with the expectation that the vaccination plan will be published by December. This will be made available on the DEFRA website.

Bluetongue Disease: Vaccination

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many bluetongue vaccines have been administered in the last 12 months.

Jane Kennedy: Vaccination against bluetongue in England and Wales is voluntary, and delivered through existing veterinary medicine supply chains, an approach agreed with the livestock industry to ensure the simple, rapid roll-out of vaccine to protect animals earlier this year. Because the approach to vaccination is voluntary, no definitive figures can be provided on the numbers of livestock actually vaccinated.
	However, to date, sales data from the supply chain suggests the overall uptake of vaccine across the whole of England is around 60 per cent. Initial vaccine uptake was high—reaching between 80 per cent. and 90 per cent. in the south east and east of England, but uptake in the counties of northern England and in Wales has been lower.

Common Agricultural Policy

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate his Department has made of spending under the Common Agricultural Policy on  (a) intervention buying and  (b) export subsidies in each of the last 10 years; what he expects it to be in each year to 2013; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: Tables 1 and 2 present expenditure on export subsidies and intervention for the budget years 1998 to 2007.
	
		
			  Table 1: Expenditure on export refunds for 1998 to 200 
			  € million 
			 1998 4,826 
			 1999 5,573 
			 2000 5,646 
			 2001 3,401 
			 2002 3,432 
			 2003 3,730 
			 2004 3,384 
			 2005 3,052 
			 2006 2,494 
			 2007 1,445 
			  Note: Includes export subsidies to 'other sectors' pre-2006. 'Other sectors' category no longer exists  Source:  European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) Financial Report 2007. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Expenditure on Intervention for 1998 to 2007 
			  € million 
			 1998(1) 5,736 
			 1999(1) 5,032 
			 2000 5,008 
			 2001 6,673 
			 2002 5,474 
			 2003 6,360 
			 2004 5,090 
			 2005 5,348 
			 2006 5,630 
			 2007 3,630 
			 (1) Accounting basis differs pre-2000, these figures are total market support excluding export refunds and direct aid.  Sources:  1998-2006 data from annual publications of 'Agriculture in the European Union: Statistical and economic information', EC. 2007 data compiled from (EAGF) Financial Report 2007. 
		
	
	Future expenditure on export subsidies and intervention purchases is very difficult to accurately forecast as it will depend on future movements in agricultural prices and exchange rates. Nevertheless, the European Commission have presented budgeted expenditure for export refunds and intervention for 2008 and 2009, as presented in table 3.
	
		
			  Table 3: Budgeted expenditure for export refunds and intervention in budget years 2008 and 2009 
			  € million 
			   Export refunds budgeted expenditure  Intervention budgeted expenditure( 1) 
			 2008 1,105 336 
			 2009 2,927 3,127 
			 (1) Total market support less export refunds.  Source:  2009 Preliminary Draft Budget, EC. 
		
	
	The EU has committed via the WTO's Doha development agenda negotiations to end export subsidies by 2013 and to cut them in half by 2010. A full DDA has not yet been reached, but the UK remains committed to the ending of export subsidies in an ambitious DDA agreement.

Departmental Public Relations

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies spent on each of the external public relations and marketing companies included in the Central Office of Information's Public Relations Framework in each of the last 36 months.

Huw Irranca-Davies: In DEFRA, public relations activity forms an important element of a broader communications mix which can include advertising, direct marketing, live events and publications. Public relations covers a range of activity, including "experiential" events. The following table shows what public relations activity was procured via DEFRA's Communications Directorate since financial year 2005-06 using the COI Public Relations Framework.
	
		
			  Financial year  PR agency  Campaign  Expenditure (£) 
			 2005-06 Amazon PR Sustainable development 67,084 
			  Weber Shandwick Climate change 86,781 
			 2006-07 EdComs & Blue Rubicon Defra Year of Food and Farming 50,872 
			  Amazon PR Sustainable development 48,973 
			  Trimedia Harrison Cowley ACT ON CO2 campaign 49,250 
			  Amazon PR Sustainable development 48,973 
			 2007-08 Trimedia Harrison Cowley ACT ON CO2 campaign (including a series of regional road shows) 476,301 
			  Munro & Forster Waste 64,424 
			  Trimedia Communications UK Climate Change Champions 32,216 
			  EdComs & Blue Rubicon Defra Year of Food and Farming 242,578 
			 2008 to September 2009 EdComs & Blue Rubicon Defra Year of Food and Farming 28,230 
			  Trimedia Communications UK ACT ON CO2 campaign 78,529 
		
	
	There was no PR spend recorded through COI's PR framework for any of DEFRA's agencies.

Fisheries: Quotas

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he last discussed reforming the sea fishing quota system with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Since my recent appointment I have begun meeting with counterparts in the devolved Administrations. Further meetings will be taking place over time which will include a wide range of fisheries issues, including the way in which we manage the common fisheries resource.

Floods: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will visit Canvey Island to review areas which the Environment Agency's Thames Estuary 2100 scheme is considering for flooding purposes; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The Thames Estuary 2100 project is still in development and we expect a public consultation to be held in spring 2009. There will be many opportunities for ministerial representation when the final report is published and so I do not think a visit is appropriate at this stage.

Floods: St Albans

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment the Environment Agency has made of flooding risk in St Albans constituency.

Jane Kennedy: The Environment Agency undertook a Flood Risk Management Study of the Upper Colne catchment in 2005. This included the constituency of St Albans. A catchment flood management plan has also been prepared by the Environment Agency for Thames Region, this was approved in July 2008. The catchment flood management plan is publicly available on the Environment Agency website.
	The Environment Agency provided flood risk data to St Albans city and district council in 2007 to help the council prepare a strategic flood risk assessment (SFRA). The Environment Agency also provided the council with information on areas susceptible to surface water flooding in August 2008.

Fly Tipping

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions have been made for fly tipping and illegal dumping of waste abroad in each of the last three years.

Jane Kennedy: The Environment Agency has taken no prosecutions for offences that involved illegal dumping abroad in the last three years. The FlyCapture database shows that local authorities in England and Wales have taken the following successful prosecutions for fly tipping offences:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2007-08 1,776 
			 2006-07 1,294 
			 2005-06 1,389 
		
	
	The Environment Agency has taken the following successful prosecutions for fly tipping offences (classified as s.33(1)(a)):
	
		
			   Number 
			 2007-08 183 
			 2006-07 161 
			 2005-06 209 
		
	
	The Environment Agency has taken the following number of prosecutions under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations:
	
		
			   Prosecutions  Offences 
			 2005 3 14 
			 2006 2 5 
			 2007 4 9

Food Supply

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact of the current economic situation on national and international food transportation and distribution systems.

Jane Kennedy: Globally, food security is about whether enough is being produced to meet demand and whether there are efficient and effective trading and distribution systems to get food to where it is needed.
	In July this year the DEFRA published a discussion paper entitled 'Ensuring the UK's Food Security in a Changing World' which drew together a broad range of key issues and opened a public debate on what more needs to be done in the UK and the rest of the world.

Food Supply

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps have been taken in partnership with retailers and food suppliers to increase the resilience of the food chain.

Jane Kennedy: The Government work with the food sector to promote business continuity planning to build the resilience of food supply chains. DEFRA chairs the Food Chain Emergency Liaison Group, a forum at which other Government departments, the food industry and the relevant trade associations can share information, discuss business continuity and jointly consider developing Government policy.
	Additionally, in July this year DEFRA published a discussion paper entitled 'Ensuring the UK's Food Security in a Changing World' which drew together a broad range of key issues and opened a public debate on what more needs to be done in the UK and the rest of the world.

Food Supply

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what systems are in place to monitor and assess the resilience of the UK food chain.

Jane Kennedy: DEFRA chairs the Food Chain Emergency Liaison Group (FCELG), a forum at which other Government departments, the food industry and the relevant trade associations can share information, discuss business continuity and jointly consider developing Government policy.
	DEFRA is also engaged in the central Government programme to improve civil contingency planning, which includes work on the UK food chain. This programme includes building resilience across all parts of the United Kingdom, horizon scanning and risk assessment. Information in the public domain about the Government's work in this area can be found on the official Government website, the UK Resilience homepage.
	Additionally, in July this year the DEFRA published a discussion paper entitled 'Ensuring the UK's Food Security in a Changing World' which drew together a broad range of key issues and opened a public debate on what more needs to be done in the UK and the rest of the world.

Food Supply

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of food imports were from  (a) EU and  (b) non-EU countries in each of the last 10 years.

Jane Kennedy: The proportion of food imports despatched to the UK from EU and non-EU countries in each of the last 10 years is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Proportion of UK food imports despatched from EU 27 and other countries, based on traded value: 1998 to 2007 
			  Percentage 
			   EU  Non-EU  All food imports 
			 1998 64 36 100 
			 1999 64 36 100 
			 2000 65 35 100 
			 2001 65 35 100 
			 2002 66 34 100 
			 2003 69 31 100 
			 2004 69 31 100 
			 2005 69 31 100 
			 2006 69 31 100 
			 2007 71 29 100 
			  Source:  H M Revenue and Customs Data prepared by trade statistics, Food Chain Analysis Group, DEFRA

Food: Waste Disposal

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proposals he has to develop the energy market for wood waste.

Jane Kennedy: DEFRA has a project to take forward the policy on waste wood set out in the Waste Strategy 2007. As an initial step, DEFRA published an information report 'Waste Wood as a Biomass Fuel' in April 2008, prepared in consultation with waste wood recyclers and other stakeholders. As a practical follow-up step to this report, we are encouraging local authorities applying for waste private finance initiative (PFI) credits in support of their waste infrastructure procurements to include plans for waste wood collection and supply.

Landfill

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what deadline the Government have set on the consultation for imposing legal restrictions on the types of waste that can be sent to landfill.

Jane Kennedy: In the England Waste Strategy 2007, the Government said that subject to further analysis, they intended to consult on whether the introduction of further restrictions on the landfilling of biodegradable and recyclable wastes would make an effective contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing resource efficiency.
	DEFRA has commissioned research into how such restrictions have worked in other countries and how this experience might translate into the UK context. We anticipate that this research will be completed early next year and we will consult on any proposals flowing from it as soon as possible thereafter.

Milk

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many litres of milk were  (a) produced and  (b) consumed daily in England in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jane Kennedy: 8,645 million litres of milk were produced on farm in England in 2007 (equivalent to 23.7 million litres per day). Most of this milk goes to dairies for processing. In 2007, just over half the milk delivered to UK dairies was used for liquid milk and just under half was used to make other dairy products (cheese, butter etc.). It is estimated that about 12.8 million litres of liquid milk is produced in England each day. The dairies sell the liquid milk for consumption as liquid drinking milk or for further manufacture.
	Households in England purchased an average of 11.3 million litres of drinking milk each day in 2006. This excludes milk consumed outside the home (e.g. milk in drinks bought in cafés).

Noise: Roads

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects the Traffic Noise Action plans based on the noise maps published in May 2008 to be published; what organisation will be tasked with delivering upon those plans; and what funds he has allocated to support implementation of the plans.

Huw Irranca-Davies: holding answer 20 October 2008
	We plan to consult on a draft action plan for major roads very shortly. The competent authority for the plan is the Secretary of State but we will liaise with the Highways Agency and local Highways Authorities on the implementation of it. Any measures identified in the plan will have to be funded from existing or planned future resources.

Packaging: Recycling

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how he has implemented the EU directive target's of 60 per cent. recovery and 55 per cent. recycling of packaging waste in 2008.

Jane Kennedy: The EU directive on packaging and packaging waste (2004/12/EC) requires all member states to ensure that a minimum of 60 per cent. of all packaging waste is recovered (of which 55 per cent. must be recycled). The directive specifies material specific recovery/recycling targets of 60 per cent. for glass, 60 per cent. for paper/board, 50 per cent. for metals, 22.5 per cent. for plastics and 15 per cent. for wood. We are currently on track to achieve these targets by 31 December 2008.
	The UK has transposed this directive through two pieces of legislation—the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations (Amendment) 2008 and the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2003 (as amended).
	Under the producer responsibility regulations, companies must ensure that a proportion of the packaging they handle is recovered and recycled. The amount they must recycle depends on how much packaging they handle, the activities they have carried out with that packaging e.g. retailing, packer filling and the targets set by the Government. Small companies or companies who do not handle much packaging are exempted from the regulations.
	The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has been working with retailers, brands and manufacturers to reduce packaging waste. WRAP has been working specifically to increase the amount of recycled material used by the UK manufacturing sector, to promote recycling by consumers and householders and advising local authorities on their recycling schemes.

River Mimram: Pollution

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will commission research from the Environment Agency on  (a) bromate levels in the River Mimram and  (b) the extent to which bromate contamination has spread in Hertfordshire in the last six months.

Jane Kennedy: The Environment Agency carries out regular monitoring of groundwater and surface water. In the last two years the Environment Agency has sampled 93 locations monthly, quarterly or annually. Monitoring has not included the River Mimram because results from other locations indicate that groundwater between the plume and the Mimram does not contain bromate. The Environment Agency's monthly program of sampling surface waters will be extended to include locations on the Mimram.
	The Environment Agency carries out monitoring designed to detect any change in bromate contamination of surface waters and groundwater. This has shown that the plume of contaminated groundwater is not spreading or changing significantly in concentration.

Sheep: Electronic Tagging

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the number of sheep in England which will be required to comply with Council Regulation 21/2004 on electronic identification.

Jane Kennedy: All sheep born on or after 31 December 2009 will need to comply with the rules on electronic identification (EID). However, the legislation provides for a possible derogation whereby those animals born after 31 December 2009 and intended for slaughter by 12 months of age can be identified with a batch tag. We will consult shortly on measures to limit the impact of EID on sheep keepers in England, including the extent to which the slaughter derogation should be adopted.

Sheep: Electronic Tagging

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the cost of  (a) implementing and  (b) running per annum the measures required under Council Regulation 21/2004 on electronic identification (i) for a flock of sheep of average size and (ii) per sheep.

Jane Kennedy: The cost of electronic identification (EID) will vary according to the type and scale of farm businesses. Therefore it is not possible to provide a definitive cost of implementing and running the EID scheme.
	A draft partial regulatory impact assessment for England is available on the DEFRA website. This document is a work in progress and is currently under review.

Taxis

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies spent on taxis in the last financial year for which figures are available.

Huw Irranca-Davies: From information held centrally, the core-Department's financial system records a VAT inclusive expenditure on taxis in the financial year 2007-08 of £265,529.71. This figure excludes expenditure with the Government Car and Dispatch Agency (GCDA).

Trees

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will fund a long-term monitoring programme of amenity trees.

Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA has no current plans to fund a long-term monitoring programme of amenity trees.

Waste Disposal

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will take steps to increase separation, collection, recycling and recovery of household decorative paints and garden chemicals.

Jane Kennedy: In Waste Strategy 2007, the Government endorsed the National Household Hazardous Waste Forum's "Haz Guide", which provides advice on the management of household hazardous waste including paints, solvents and garden chemicals and can be found on the forum's website. We also recognised the good work undertaken by schemes such as "Community RePaint" which encourages the re-use of unwanted paint in local communities and shows what can be achieved on a voluntary basis.

Waste Management

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will place in the Library copies of those papers produced for the Waste 2008 conference held in Stratford upon Avon during 16 and 17 September 2008 held by his Department, the Waste and Resources Action Programme and the Environment Agency.

Jane Kennedy: The Waste 2008 conference was sponsored by DEFRA, Organics Group plc, Golder Associates (UK) Ltd, Enviros Consulting Ltd and Gerald Eve. The event was also supported by the Environmental Services Association and the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management.
	The conference organisers, Waste Conference Ltd, have agreed to provide complementary copies of the proceedings, which I have placed in the Library.
	Contributors included in the proceedings are published under the direct responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the above named organisations.

Waste Management: Gloucestershire

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations Gloucestershire County Council have made to his Department on applying for private finance initiative credits for its waste strategy.

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to an earlier answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Joan Ruddock) on 28 April 2008,  Official Report , column 9W.
	Since then, Gloucestershire county council has submitted a detailed outline business case to DEFRA. This was assessed by DEFRA, after which it was submitted to the Treasury's cross-department Project Review Group in October for consideration. An announcement on this private finance initiative (PFI) application should be made shortly.

Water: Greater London

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the condition of the water table in London; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The Environment Agency is the statutory body with a duty to manage water resources in England and Wales. The Environment Agency assesses the level of groundwater in London on an annual basis and has done so for the past 15 years. The current report for 2007, available on the Environment Agency's website, shows levels (which are maintained through the active management of abstraction) are at a satisfactory level.

Water: Meters

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of homes have water meters; and what steps his Department is taking to increase that percentage.

Jane Kennedy: Currently 30 per cent. of households in England have water meters. An independent review of charging and metering for household water and sewerage services is currently assessing the appropriate pace of change so that areas of high water stress increase to near universal metering to ensure continuity of supply.

Water: Shortages

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department and its predecessor has spent on investigations of solutions to water shortages in  (a) the South East and  (b) Hertfordshire in the last 10 years.

Jane Kennedy: Since the privatisation in 1989 of the water industry in England and Wales, the water companies supplying  (a) the South East and  (b) Hertfordshire have had duties to ensure that the public water supply is maintained. It is for the companies, not the Government, to investigate solutions to any potential shortfalls and to make the necessary investments. To assist them in identifying the necessary investment, as required by the water industry economic regulator, Ofwat, the companies produced water resources plans in 1999 and 2004. This year the companies consulted on their first statutory plans.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Departmental Training

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department has conducted  (a) an audit of staff skills and  (b) a strategic skills plan as set out in the FCO Strategic Workforce Plan of November 2007.

David Miliband: Following the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) Strategy Refresh, we conducted earlier this year a detailed audit of the skills needed to deliver the FCO's new Departmental Strategic Objectives. This involved both identifying the key skills required and defining existing levels of proficiency. We are evaluating these results and doing further work with specialist skill-sets.
	The FCO's skills delivery plan consists of a number of elements: new training (both classroom and e-learning) to meet the requirement for new skills; a self-assessment tool to enable staff to identify potential career options and the skills and levels of proficiency required; and a new skill framework that builds on Professional Skills for Government competency standards and is tailored to fit the skills particularly important to delivery of the FCO's objectives now and in the future.

European External Action Service

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers' report on the COREPER meetings on the European External Action Service held on 7 and 13 May;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 26 June 2008,  Official Report, column 533W, on the European External Action Service, whether the Government holds a copy of the European Commission's report on the COREPER meetings on the European External Action Service held on 7 and 13 May 2008; and if he will ask the European Commission to make copies of that report available to hon. Members.

Caroline Flint: We do not hold copies of these reports. Neither document is a UK originated document, but rather internal to the European Commission and the Council Secretariat respectively.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much funding the Government of Gibraltar received from the European Union in 2007.

Caroline Flint: In 2007, Gibraltar was allocated €780,000 from the European regional development fund and €452,000 from the European social fund.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Spanish counterpart on Gibraltar in the last six months.

Caroline Flint: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos on 2 July at a meeting of the Trilateral Forum of Dialogue on Gibraltar. The Foreign Secretary, Señor Moratinos and the Chief Minister of Gibraltar discussed a range of Gibraltar issues covering implementation of the Cordoba agreements and new areas of trilateral co-operation.
	The Foreign Secretary routinely meets the Spanish Foreign Minister at General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) meetings. Discussions in the margins of the GAERC have covered a range of international issues including some specific issues relating to Gibraltar such as Spanish military restrictions.
	We make clear that the UK will not enter into a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content.

Gibraltar

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what endangered animal species exist in Gibraltar; and what steps are being taken to protect them.

Caroline Flint: This is a matter for the Government of Gibraltar. The request for information may be directed to the Government of Gibraltar Office in London in the first instance.

Horn of Africa: Conflict Resolution

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government support proposals to create a regional conflict resolution mechanism for conflicts in the Horn of Africa; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: We are not aware of any specific proposals to create a regional conflict mechanism for conflicts in the Horn of Africa. However, we stand ready to support any internationally or locally generated proposals which contribute to resolving the regional conflicts in the Horn of Africa through constructive and unbiased mechanisms. In this context we welcome the Intergovernmental Authority for Development summit on 27 October and look forward to it reaching positive conclusions for the people of Somalia.

India: Sikhs

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the government of India on the recent  (a) violence against Sikhs in India and  (b) mass arrests of Sikhs in India.

Bill Rammell: We have not made any bilateral representations to the Government of India on these specific issues. It is the Government's long-standing policy that there is no justification for acts of violence against individuals because of their faith and religion. When the issue of freedom of religion came up at the EU-India Human Rights Dialogue in Delhi on 15 February, the EU collectively expressed its concerns about violent attacks against all minority groups in India. The Government will continue to pay close attention to incidents of religious intolerance and will work with the Government of India in supporting their efforts to address minority rights issues.

Indonesia: Peacekeeping Operations

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much funding the British Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia  (a) loaned and  (b) gave to the EU-led Aceh Monitoring Mission; and whether any such loans have been repaid (i) with and (ii) without interest.

Gillian Merron: The common costs of the EU-led Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), which ran from 15 September 2005 to 15 December 2006, were financed by the EU's CFSP budget and voluntary contributions from member states. The total Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) budget to run the Mission was 9.3 million euros of which the UK contributed 17 per cent. or 1.58 million euros.
	In addition, the UK funded the secondment of nine monitors and three military staff officers, and made a voluntary contribution of £60,000 towards the Mission's common costs. This total contribution of £603,689 was funded from the peacekeeping budget of the Treasury's central reserve.
	To help finance the initial start up of the AMM, a loan of US dollars 21,313.80 for medical insurance for the international monitors was made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the period 14 to 26 September 2005. This money was refunded by the AMM on 11 October 2005. No interest was paid.
	Our embassy in Jakarta also supported the peace process through a project called "Aceh Sport for Peace". It contributed £3,357 to help bring the parties together through sporting events.

Iran: Females

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Iran on the status of women in that country.

Bill Rammell: Iranian leaders argue that the situation of women in Iran is better than in other countries in the region and are rightly proud that women make up over half of all university students. However, women remain largely excluded from positions of authority, and gender based inequality is widespread and reinforced by Iranian law. We are particularly concerned by the treatment of Iranian women connected to the Campaign for Equality (which aims to collect 1 million signatures on a petition demanding changes to discriminatory laws and educate women about their rights). Many, throughout the country, have been arrested for peaceful activities in support of the campaign and sentenced to prison terms or flogging sentences on charges such as 'acting against national security' and 'propaganda against the system'. The Campaign's website has been blocked by the Iranian authorities 16 times. With the EU, we continue to make our concerns about this known to the Iranian authorities, and have done so at least four times this year. In a public declaration issued on 6 August the EU condemned the arrest of three women's rights activists arrested in Kurdistan province and called on the Iranian authorities to
	"release these activists unconditionally as soon as possible and to drop all charges against them and other activists of the One Million Signatures campaign who are still under investigation or arrest".
	The EU condemned this persecution and intimidation once again in a human rights démarche delivered on 6 October, and called for the release of 16 detained women's rights activists connected to the campaign.

Iran: Human Rights

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Government of Iran on human rights.

Bill Rammell: We have serious concerns about Iran's poor human rights record. Together with the EU, we remain committed to raising these concerns regularly with the Iranian Government and continue to press them to work towards international human rights standards and fulfilment of their obligations under UN human rights conventions. We have done so more than 30 times this year in bilateral and EU meetings with the Iranian authorities and in public declarations. Senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials raised concerns about the execution of juvenile offenders, during the visit of Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Safari in September. The most recent EU human rights demarche, covering the full range of concerns, was delivered by the EU presidency on 6 October in Paris, as Iran is becoming increasingly reluctant to receive representations about human rights in Tehran. Recent EU statements have focussed on juvenile execution cases, the situation of religious and ethnic minorities, and the proposed draft penal code which, if adopted, would set out a mandatory death sentence for apostasy. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and speak out about human rights violations in Iran.

Iran: Politics and Government

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are being taken by his Department to engage with the democratic Opposition in Iran.

Bill Rammell: Encouraging respect for fundamental human rights and political freedoms remains a key element of our Iran policy. We do not get involved in Iran's internal political debates, as these are for Iranians themselves to resolve, but together with the EU we continue to promote the internationally recognised principles to which so many Iranians aspire including freedom of speech and transparent, genuinely democratic and accountable government. Our work to assist the development of civil society around the world will continue in support of this goal. We have concerns that Iran's electoral processes do not allow for truly competitive elections or democratic opposition, and have urged the Iranian Government to give their citizens a genuine democratic choice about their country's future, and the opportunity to choose from the full range of candidates.

Iraq: Asylum

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 10 July 2008,  Official Report, column 1826W, on Iraq: asylum, what the average time taken has been to process an application under  (a) the Gateway Protection Programme and  (b) the Locally Employed Staff Assistance Scheme.

Bill Rammell: The Locally Employed Staff assistance scheme offers staff a number of different forms of assistance depending on the circumstances of their employment, including the opportunity of resettlement in the UK, or financial assistance. The time it takes to grant this assistance varies according to the type of assistance sought. The length of time taken to grant each kind of assistance can also vary significantly between different cases: in many cases eligibility can be assessed very quickly, but sometimes we may require more information from applicants, or need to carry out checks to substantiate claims, particularly if those concerned left our employ some time ago.

Iraq: Asylum

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications for financial assistance under the Locally Employed Staff Assistance scheme have been approved; how much financial assistance has been  (a) authorised and  (b) distributed in relation to these applications; how many of the applications for financial assistance included claims for dependants; what the total number of claims was for dependants; and what the total amount of extra financial assistance granted to those applicants was as a result.

Bill Rammell: A total of 349 applications for financial assistance under the Locally Employed Staff Assistance Scheme have so far been approved. US $2,480,988 has been authorised in financial assistance packages of which US $2,418,552 has been paid.
	23 applicants from former and current Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff and eight from former and current Department for International Development (DFID) staff have included dependants in their claims. Payments totalling US $86,360 have been made in respect of 79 dependants claimed by former and current FCO staff. Payments totalling US $29,850 have been made in respect of 19 dependants claimed by former and current DFID staff.
	The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has approved payment of US $1,837,740 to a total of 318 former and current staff of which US $1,795,994 has been paid. The information on MOD dependant numbers and costs is not held centrally and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Israel: Detainees

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department has made to the Israeli authorities over the detention and subsequent treatment of Mohammed Omer.

Bill Rammell: We understand that the Israeli authorities carried out an investigation and concluded that there was no evidence to support Mr. Omer's accusations, although they did confirm that Mr. Omer was hospitalised after fainting. We have not seen a copy of their report, but our embassy in Tel Aviv has written to the Israeli government to raise our concerns about this case and we await a reply.

Macedonia: EU Enlargement

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support the Government are giving to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in its candidate status to join the European Union; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The Government strongly support Macedonia's aspirations to join the European Union. It was under the UK Presidency that the Republic of Macedonia was granted candidate status in December 2005. Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff work closely with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and EU partners, including the EU Special Representative, to encourage Macedonia to move forward towards EU membership by making the reforms needed to meet the Copenhagen political criteria and the conditions set out in the Stabilisation and Association Process.
	The Government provide on-going financial support to a range of projects that seek to encourage progress in the priority areas set out in Macedonia's Accession Partnership, through our Strategic Programme Fund (Reuniting Europe). In 2008-09, this fund is channelling around £860,000 to projects that include work to: improve Macedonia's administrative, policy and strategic capacity for joining the EU; strengthen the parliament and its capacity to scrutinise legislation; help fight corruption; and improve the business environment and tackle unemployment.
	Other Government funds are delivering around £640,000 of support in areas such as police reform that are very relevant to the EU integration process and help ensure continued stability. We look forward to Macedonia's continued progress and its membership of the EU when it is ready.

Sri Lanka: Human Rights

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Sri Lanka on its opposition to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' proposal to establish a UN field presence in the country for monitoring and reporting; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: My noble Friend the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Malloch-Brown, made clear to the UN Human Rights Council in March the UK's support for a stronger mandate and presence for the UN Human Rights Mission in Sri Lanka. My noble Friend reiterated the UK's concerns over the observance of human rights in Sri Lanka to President Rajapakse, his Ministers and senior officials during his visit to Sri Lanka this summer and urged them to strengthen human rights mechanisms.

Taliban

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the Government has engaged in talks with the Taliban in  (a) Afghanistan and  (b) Pakistan.

Bill Rammell: The Government have not engaged in talks with the Taliban in either Afghanistan or Pakistan. However, the UK does support President Karzai and his Government in their efforts to reconcile all parties to Afghanistan's democratic constitution and to bring disaffected Afghans into society's mainstream, providing they renounce violence and accept Afghanistan's constitution. In Pakistan, the UK is working to support the Government of Pakistan's 'multi-pronged' strategy to tackle militancy in the tribal belt, including development, governance reform and security measures. As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made clear during his visit to Pakistan in April this year, we support the Government of Pakistan's plans to reconcile with people who are willing to participate in politics in a non-violent way. Such reconciliation should be designed to marginalise those who are using extremist means for ideological reasons.

United Arab Emirates: Nuclear Power

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of the June 2008 Memorandum of Understanding on nuclear energy between the UK and the United Arab Emirates.

David Miliband: We are happy to do so and have confirmed with the Abu Dhabi authorities that they are too, consistent with the United Arab Emirates Government's welcome commitment to maximising confidence and transparency in the development of their civil nuclear programme.

Wouter Basson

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the occasions on which UK authorities have interviewed Wouter Basson with the permission of the South African authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: I am not aware of any occasions on which British officials have formally interviewed Wouter Basson. When the Government became aware of allegations that South Africa had an offensive Chemical and Biological Weapons (CBW) programme, UK experts visited South Africa to obtain a clearer assessment of the programmes which had been halted by the South African authorities in 1992. This included meetings at which Basson, as the senior scientist involved, was present.

Wouter Basson

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he and his predecessors have received of the trial of Wouter Basson in South Africa in 2000.

Bill Rammell: Diplomatic reporting and other correspondence relating to the 1999-2002 trial of Wouter Basson in South Africa was routinely copied to a number of interested Government Departments at the time, including No. 10. As the trial concluded in 2002, my right hon. Friends the current Prime Minister, the current Foreign Secretary, and his predecessor (the Minister for Housing and Planning), have not received reports of the trial.

Yemen: Piracy

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many acts of piracy off the coast of Yemen  (a) were recorded in 2007 and  (b) have been recorded to date in 2008; and what assistance the UK has given to the Government of Yemen to tackle such acts.

David Miliband: There were 60 recorded incidents of piracy in this area during 2007, 48 of which were registered as attempts and 12 were actual boardings. Up until the end of September this year, there have been 75 recorded incidents, 36 of which were registered as attempts and 39 were actual boardings. The Government are assisting the Government of Yemen to develop its programmes to counter threats to the maritime border.

Yemen: Politics and Government

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last discussed the security situation in Yemen with his American counterpart; and what the outcome of those discussions was.

David Miliband: My right hon. Friend, the then Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Pontypridd (Dr. Howells), discussed the security situation with the American authorities in May 2008 during his last visit to Yemen.

Yemen: Terrorism

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of links between terrorist groups operating in Yemen and terrorist groups operating in  (a) Afghanistan and  (b) Pakistan; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: We judge it likely that terrorist groups operating in Yemen receive strategic direction from terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and that there are probably facilitation links between terrorist groups in the tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and terrorist groups in Yemen.

Yemen: Terrorism

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the Yemeni Government's implementation of the requirements in UN Security Council Resolutions 1737 (2001) and 1377 (2001) on the suppression of terrorism; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The Government of Yemen has committed publicly to combating terrorism both inside and outside Yemen. It has conducted several successful operations, including against members of Al-Qaida in Yemen, most recently in August. This operation resulted in the death of a high-profile terrorist suspect, Hamza al-Qaiti.
	We are working with the Government of Yemen to counter the threat of terrorism to the UK from Yemen and to UK interests in Yemen. In the short-term we are focused on protecting British interests in a volatile security environment. In the longer-term we are developing joint work on preventing terrorism by tackling the radicalisation of individuals and reducing the threat to the UK and UK interests through disrupting terrorists and their operations.

Yemen: Terrorism

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Yemeni counterpart on the arrest of Abdul Majid al-Zindani.

David Miliband: Abdul Majid al-Zindani has not been arrested. There has been no discussion with the Yemenis on this subject.

INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS

Apprentices

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many people were undertaking an apprenticeship in each year since 1997; and what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who will be undertaking an apprenticeship in each of the next five years.

Si�n Simon: Table 1 shows the number of people that have started on an apprenticeship from 1997 to 2006/07, the latest year for which fully audited data is available. Information for 2007/08 is due to be published in a statistical first release in December 2008.
	Information on future apprenticeships starts are due to be made available next month through the Annual Statement of Priorities published by the Learning and Skills Council. This will include latest estimates of the actual starts for the 2007/08 academic year, and proposals for delivery during 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11. Resources have not yet been made available beyond that period.
	
		
			  Table 1: Apprenticeship Starts, 1997/98 to 2006/07 
			   Number 
			 1997/98 75,000 
			 1998/99 118,000 
			 1999/2000 165,000 
			 2000/01 177,000 
			 2001/02 162,000 
			 2002/03 204,000 
			 2003/04 194,000 
			 2004/05 189,000 
			 2005/06 175,000 
			 2006/07 184,000 
			  Notes: 1. These figures represent learners starting an apprenticeship or an advanced apprenticeship. Additionally, there are a very small number of higher level apprenticeships included in the 2006/07 total. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.  Source: WBL ILR/ISR.

Apprentices

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what representations he has received on apprenticeships which might be terminated because of job losses and company failures in the current economic climate; and if he will make a statement.

Si�n Simon: We are aware that in some construction companies apprenticeship places are at risk and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State met major representatives of the construction industry in August to discuss what we might do to protect such apprentices. As a result, the Learning and Skills Council in partnership with the sector skills body, ConstructionSkills, has established a service to help construction apprentices at risk of losing their jobs find a new employer or place them in a full-time construction training place while an employer is found for them. I and my ministerial colleagues are actively engaging with employers to ensure that if we need to intervene in other areas we will be prepared to respond flexibly to promote and support apprenticeships.

Departmental Procurement

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what proportion of invoices for goods and services procured from small and medium-sized businesses were paid within 30 days of receipt by  (a) his Department and  (b) the agencies for which his Department is responsible in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Si�n Simon: The information is not available in the format requested as the Department does not separately identify its suppliers as small or medium-sized businesses. The proportions of valid invoices for all goods and services procured and paid within 30 days of receipt by the Department and its agencies in 2007-08 are as follows:
	
		
			   Percentage 
			 Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills 99.4 
			 National Weights and Measures Laboratory 97.0 
			 UK Intellectual Property Office 98.2 
			  Source: Annual Report and Accounts 2007-08 for each of the aforementioned bodies.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 29 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 32-33WS, on Education (Student Support) Regulations, when his Department will identify the 1.5 billion of cash-releasing efficiency savings referred to.

David Lammy: The Department published its Value for Money Delivery Agreement for the CSR period in December 2007. This set out how it plans to achieve cash releasing savings of 1.5 billion over the period. The delivery strategy includes increasing co-funding from the private sector, reprioritising spend, and achieving improved procurement and shared services by its delivery partners.

Departmental Recruitment

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much  (a) his Department and  (b) its Executive agencies spent on (i) recruitment consultants and (ii) external recruitment advertising to recruit staff in each of the last five financial years; which recruitment consultants were employed for those purposes in each of those years; and if he will make a statement.

Si�n Simon: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was created as a result of machinery of Government changes in June 2007. Information on how much was spent on recruitment consultants and external recruitment advertising to recruit staff prior to this date is not held by the Department.
	In 2007-08, the Department spent 243,548 in total on recruitment consultants and external recruitment advertising to recruit staff. The recruitment consultants employed by the Department for those purposes include KMC international, Kay Management Consultants Ltd. and Capita Resourcing Ltd.
	National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) spent the following over the last five financial years on recruitment consultants and external recruitment advertising.
	
		
			   Advertising ()  Consultants () 
			 2003-04 1,900  
			 2004-05 6,600  
			 2005-06 1,700  
			 2006-07 12,600  
			 2007-08 7,900 3,200 
		
	
	NWML did not use external bodies to undertake its external recruitment advertising. It employed Reed Personnel Services plc. as recruitment consultants in 2007-08 for a one-off exercise.
	The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) spent the following amounts on recruitment consultants and on external recruitment advertising over the last five financial years.
	
		
			   Advertising ()  Consultants () 
			 2003-04 18,065 65,157 
			 2004-05 12,718 7,320 
			 2005-06 16,988 123,340 
			 2006-07 56,502 0 
			 2007-08 15,247 0 
		
	
	The consultants used were Capita Resourcing Ltd. in 2003-04. In the other years, the consultants were Penna. The UKIPO did not use external bodies to undertake its external recruitment advertising.

Departmental Trade Unions

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many civil servants in his Department were seconded to work for  (a) trade unions and  (b) the Trades Union Congress in each year since its inception.

Si�n Simon: The Department was created on 28 June 2008 and since then nobody has been seconded to a trade union or to the Trades Union Congress.
	In common with other Departments and agencies, my Department does provide agreed time off and facilities for trade union representatives to take part in trade union duties, activities and training.

Education: Prisons

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much his Department spent on the offender learning and skills service in  (a) the most recent year for which figures are available and  (b) in each of the previous five years, broken down by main budget heading.

Si�n Simon: The offender learning and skills service was introduced in August 2005 in three regions, before being rolled out across England in August 2006. Following machinery of Government changes in June 2007, funding for the offender learning and skills service, previously from the Department for Education and Skills vote, was divided between the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Children, Schools and Families. The following figures set out spending by the Learning and Skills Council on offender skills and employment in prisons and young offender institutions, and on specific provision for offenders in the community.
	
		
			  Offender learning and skills service spend 
			   
			   Financial year 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Custody 25,393,061 82,962,319 118,035,194 
			 Community 9,381,000 9,381,000 9,381,000 
			 Total (1)34,674,061 (1)92,343,319 (2)127,416,194 
			 (1) Department for Education and Skills.  (2) Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and for Children, Schools and Families.

Higher Education: Admissions

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many postgraduate students were studying for  (a) doctorates,  (b) Masters degrees and  (c) other postgraduate qualifications in the latest period for which figures are available, broken down by socio-economic group.

David Lammy: Figures are given in the following table. The latest period for which figures are available is the 2006/07 academic year; figures for the 2007/08 academic year will be available in January 2009.
	Socio-Economic Classification information is not available for postgraduate students.
	
		
			  Postgraduate enrolments( 1)  by qualification aim, English higher education institutions, 2006/07 academic year 
			  Qualification aim  Enrolments 
			 Doctorates 80,490 
			 Masters 260,305 
			 Other postgraduate qualifications 121,635 
			   
			 Total postgraduate qualifications 462,430 
			 (1) Figures cover postgraduate enrolments from all domiciles on full-time and part-time courses.   Notes:  Figures are on a HESA Standard Registration Population (SRP) basis and have been rounded to the nearest five.   Source:  Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record.

Higher Education: Admissions

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much was spent on widening participation in higher education in each year since 1999-2000; and how much has been spent on  (a) outreach activity to raise aspirations and attainment among potential students,  (b) improving retention and  (c) widening access and improving provision for students with disabilities in each of these years.

David Lammy: This Government remain fully committed to widening access to higher education for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Widening access requires long term investment and change across the higher education (HE) system. We have reformed student financial support and continued to invest in the Aimhigher Programme, which helps to attract young people into HE from backgrounds which are currently under-represented. There is evidence that we are making steady progress: for example, the proportion of UK domiciled, young, full-time, first degree entrants to English higher education institutions who were from lower socio-economic groups rose from 27.9 per cent. in 2002/03 to 29.8 per cent. in 2006/07.
	Expenditure from 1999-2000 on widening participation is as follows:
	
		
			  Figures are m 
			   1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Aimhigher and predecessors(1, 2)   50 70 120 136 102 87 80 
			 Additional HE summer schools  
			 Regional Projects and other early activity(3) 10 12 5 5  
			 Student support(4) 1,761 1,507 1,213 1,096 1,084 1,410 1,411 1,634 1,962 
			 Widening participation allocation(5 )(see breakdown in following table) 20 31 37 48 266 273 284 345 356 
			 University bursaries and outreach(6)96 (7) 
			 Total(8) 1,791 1,550 1,295 1,209 1,460 1,819 1,797 2,162 (7) 
			 (1) The unified Aimhigher programme was introduced in 2004. Predecessor programmes were Excellence Challenge, funded by the then Department for Education and Skills, and Partnerships for Progression, funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Aimhigher is funded jointly by DIUS, HEFCE, the LSC and the Department for Health. Includes allocations for Aimhigher Associates (3 million in 2008-09, 9 million in 2009-10, and 9 million in 2010-11). (2 )Excellence Challenge included Opportunity Bursaries. These were grants to eligible people from lower income families and were worth 2,000 over three years. From September 2001, 26,000 such bursaries were made available at a total cost of 37 million. With the wider reintroduction of grants in 2006, the Opportunity Bursary scheme was withdrawn. (3 )Funded by HEFCE. (4 )Includes student loans RAB charge, fee loans, student support grants, maintenance grant, HE grant, grants for vulnerable students, tuition fee grants, grants for part-time students and access funds and bursaries. The student loans RAB charge estimates the future cost to Government of subsidising and writing off the student loans issued in that year; it does not represent the amount of cash lent to students, which has risen each year since the introduction of student loans. Figures for 1997 to 2007 are outturn; that for 2007-08 is estimated outturn; and those for 2008 to 11 are plans. (5 )These figures also include the allocations for improving the retention of non-traditional students, and to widen access and improve provision for disabled students. The figure for 2008-09 is provisional. (6 )The Office for Fair Access forecasts that around 300 million annually will be spent by higher education providers on bursaries and scholarships benefiting students from low-income and other under-represented groups by the academic year 2008/09. (7 )Not yet available. (8 )In 2001 to 2004, Aimhigher contributed 10 million a year towards the widening participation allocation. The figure given as the total for each of these years is therefore less than the sum of the parts to avoid double counting. 
		
	
	Widening participation allocation breakdown
	
		
			  Amount  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Outreach n/a 24,260,750 28,321,872 37,953,557 37,662,067 49,603,560 51,053,366 92,269,312 97,330,636 
			 Retention n/a78,325,250 213,236,862 220,924,080 239,891,585 245,934,377 
			 Disability n/a 7,015,514 8,694,761 9,699,450 10,043,420 10,520,776 12,329,861 12,911,354 13,044,347 
			 Total 19,874,614 31,276,264 37,016,633 47,653,007 265,891,026 273,361,198 284,307,307 345,072,251 356,309,360

Higher Education: Finance

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much his Department spent on further education for those over 19 years of age in  (a) the most recent year for which figures are available and  (b) in each of the previous five years, broken down by main budget heading.

Si�n Simon: Expenditure by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) on adult further education (FE) and skills from 2002-03 to 2007-08 is set out in the following table which is based on the figures in the 2008 Departmental Report. Within this funding some of the resource supports the wider FE sector including pre-19 education and training, in the role which DIUS has as sponsor of the FE service.
	
		
			  Expenditure on adult further education and skills 
			million 
			   Outturn  Estimated outturn 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Adult Further Education and Skills 3,863 4,180 4,269 4,385 4,235 4,642 
			  Breakdown of total   
			 Learning and Skills Council (Adult FE and Skills)(1) 3,447 3,798 3,852 3,989 3,853 4,192 
			  Including:   
			 LSC 19+ Further Education 1,726 1,882 1,902 2,011 1,915 1,874 
			 LSC Ufi/Learnerdirect 115 194 169 201 171 156 
			 LSC Apprenticeships and Work Based Learning 211 213 243 232 218 263 
			 LSC Train to Gain 7 33 89 142 194 331 
			 LSC Adult Safeguarded Learning 198 225 241 229 222 221 
			 LSC Offender Learning and Skills Service 0 0 9 35 101 115 
			 LSC DIUS Learner Support and Development 719 706 562 477 420 487 
			 LSC 19+ Capital 217 279 393 376 397 465 
			
			  Funding not routed through the LSC( 2)   
			 Adult Education and Skills Strategy 245 172 182 191 168 176 
			 Career Development Loans (non-LSC element)(3) 14 14 16 2 2 2 
			 Union Learning Fund (non-LSC element)(3) 7 2 2 2 5 18 
			 Ufi Learndirect (non-LSC element)(3) 50 45 13 0 0 0 
			 Offenders' Learning and Skills (non-LSC element)(3) 59 101 105 92 36 21 
			 FE Improvement (formerly Post-16 Standards) 13 21 53 73 127 158 
			 Other miscellaneous programmes 27 27 46 36 45 75 
			 (1 )This line covers funding which the LSC manages on DIUS policies for adult FE and skills.  (2 )The majority of funding for FE and Skills is managed by the LSC. In addition the following funding is not routed through LSC, although the LSC also manages some funding on these programmes which is included in the LSC line.  (3 )These lines do not show the full expenditure on these programmes as some expenditure is included in the LSC line above. In particular where funding reduces significantly, this is because funding has been transferred to LSC and expenditure is included in the LSC line above.  Source: Annex 2 of the DIUS 2008 Departmental Report, Tables 11 and 12.

Languages

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much was spent by his Department on English for Speakers of Other Languages lessons in each year between 2001 and 2007.

Si�n Simon: Since 2001, the Government have funded English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses through the Skills for Life strategy as part of the Learning and Skills Council's overall adult skills budget.
	The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) calculates the total amounts spent on Skills for Life ESOL as follows:
	
		
			million 
			 2000/01 103 
			 2001/02 185 
			 2002/03 235 
			 2003/04 267 
			 2004/05 289 
			 2005/06 298 
			 2006/07 289

Scholarships: Overseas Students

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what the  (a) membership and  (b) terms of reference are for the departmental working group that is being established on scholarships for international students.

Caroline Flint: I have been asked to reply.
	The proposed members who have confirmed an interest so far are the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, the Department for International Development, UK Trade and Investment, the Scottish Executive, Universities UK, the Russell Group, the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission and the British Council.
	The draft terms of reference have not yet been finalised.

Science and Innovation Network

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps he is taking in conjunction with other Government Departments to increase awareness of the Science and Innovation Network among  (a) hon. Members and  (b) others.

David Lammy: The role of tasking and managing the Science and Innovation Network was transferred from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills on 1 July 2008. DIUS and the FCO fund a joint management team located in DIUS. Officials from this joint DIUS/FCO team and from the Science and Innovation Network maintain close links with the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, and with them organise occasional briefings for hon. Members on the work of the Network. The last such presentation was on 7 November 2007. DIUS officials use a number of mechanisms to increase awareness of the Science and Innovation Network with other stakeholders, including publishing an annual report, promoting the work of the Network through such as the Global Science and Innovation Forum, and bilateral meetings with key stakeholders.

Small Businesses: Training

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what recent steps the Government have taken to assist small businesses with improving the skills of their workforces.

Si�n Simon: holding answer 20 October 2008
	On 21 October my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced that small businesses will be the focus of 350 million of Government funds to help them train their staff. The new package of support that this will deliver will help small businesses get through the tougher economic climate by building the skills and expertise of their workers. The funding will be drawn from the Train to Gain programme, funding for which is planned to rise to 1 billion by 2010-11. In allocating the planned increase in spending on this programme over the next two years, we will give top priority to meeting demand from small businesses in the private sector.
	The key elements of the 350 million package are:
	Relaxing the rules to allow funding for bite-sized chunkssmall units or modules of qualifications in subjects known to be important to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), such as business improvement, team-working, customer service, and risk management;
	Help for groups of SMEs located together in business parks so that they can increase their purchasing power and share resources to support the training of local SME staff;
	Extending DIUS's successful leadership and management programme so that more SMEs can benefit from it, including in companies with just five to 10 workers;
	Relaxing the rules to allow workers to get training up to level 2 even if they already have a previous qualification at this level; and more funding for level 3 training;
	Brokers to offer tried and tested skills diagnostics and audits so companies can have their training needs more accurately identified; and point SMEs to the right solutions from the most appropriate providers;
	A new communications campaign to begin next month to underline the benefits of upskilling and reskilling and the breadth of the support on offer from Government.

Student Wastage

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what progress has been made on the grant programme for evaluating institutional practice relating to student retention in higher education; and whether any awards have been determined to date.

David Lammy: The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), together with the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, have awarded a total of 1 million in grants to higher education institutions to evaluate and disseminate aspects of their retention work. Seven projects are being funded, involving 21 institutions, each looking at a different aspect of student retention, and these projects are now underway.
	More than half of all HE institutions submitted proposals for the programme, demonstrating the importance the sector attaches to improving student retention. The Higher Education Academy and Action on Access are providing additional support to the programme, to help to ensure effective co-ordination and maximum impact across the HE sector.

Students: Finance

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills 
	(1)  what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of first degree undergraduates with a parental household income of around  (a) 25,000,  (b) 30,000,  (c) 40,000,  (d) 50,000,  (e) 60,000 and  (f) 70,000;
	(2)  how many of the October 2008 cohort of undergraduates entering higher education were from each decile of parental household income.

David Lammy: Complete information on household incomes of students is not available centrally.

Students: Grants

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much has been awarded to undergraduates who are the children of parents registered as non-domiciled through the student grants system in each year for which records are available; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: There are no figures available relating to the awards of student support made to the children of non-domiciled parents. Information about the parents of students is not routinely gathered.
	To qualify for student support a person needs to be personally eligible by satisfying criteria based on their residence, immigration and, in some cases, nationality status.

Students: Grants

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what regulations are in place governing the awarding of undergraduate grants to the children of parents registered as non-domiciled; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The Education (Student Support) Regulations 2008 lay down the eligibility criteria which students need to satisfy in order to qualify for student support.
	To qualify for student support a person needs to be personally eligible by satisfying criteria based on their own residence, immigration and, in some cases, nationality status.

Students: Grants

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what estimate he has made of the number of undergraduates who are the children of parents registered as non-domiciled and have received student grants in each year for which records are available; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The information is not available.
	Information about the parents of students is not routinely gathered. There are no figures available relating to the number of children of non-domiciled parents claiming student support.
	To qualify for student support a person needs to be personally eligible by satisfying criteria based on their own residence, immigration and, in some cases, nationality status.

Train to Gain Programme

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much the Train to Gain programme cost in the latest year for which figures are available, broken down by main budget heading.

Si�n Simon: Latest data show that, since it was launched in April 2006, over 101,000 employers have engaged with Train to Gain, with over 290,000 learners achieving a qualification. Train to Gain expenditure was almost 313 million. A breakdown by budget heading is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Budget heading  2007-08 spend (000) 
			 Delivery 256,034 
			 Brokerage 38,630 
			 Level 3 Pilots 5,574 
			 Higher Skills for Women 2,416 
			 Marketing 9,652 
			 Evaluation 653 
			 Total 312,959 
			  Source:  Learning and Skills Council Accounts 2007-08

Video Games: Training

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what recent representations he has received on shortages of people with the necessary skills for employment in the video games development industry; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The video games industry is an important and innovative sector of the UK economy. Officials from my Department are actively discussing with TIGA, the national trade association representing the video games industry, a range of issues including the shortage of skilled recruits. We are encouraging the sector to work closely with the relevant Sector Skills Councils and with Higher Education Institutions to address their skill needs. In particular we have suggested that the industry should explore the potential of Foundation Degrees or Employer Co-funding in addition to graduate recruitment. We are also interested in promoting opportunities for undergraduates to obtain work experience and we are exploring with the industry what more we can do to encourage staff exchanges.

Vocational Training

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills when his Department will be bringing forward proposals to introduce a statutory right to request adult training from April 2010.

Si�n Simon: The consultation on the right to request time to train was launched on 18 June 2008 and closed on 10 September 2008. We are currently analysing the consultation responses and will publish the results before the end of the year. Subject to the outcome of the consultation, we plan to introduce legislation on the right to request time to train in the 4th session Employment and Skills Bill, scheduled for introduction in January 2009.

Young People: Unemployment

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many and what percentage of  (a) 16,  (b) 17,  (c) 18,  (d) 19,  (e) 20,  (f) 21,  (g) 22,  (h) 23 and  (i) 24 year olds were not in employment, education or training in each of the last five years.

Si�n Simon: The following tables show estimates from the Labour Force Survey for England for the second quarter of each year of the numbers and percentage not in education, employment or training (NEET) for each age from 16 to 24.
	
		
			  Not in education, employment or training (NEET), by age, England 
			  Number 
			Age 
			16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24 
			 Q2 2003 51,000 67,000 86,000 74,000 75,000 89,000 84,000 96,000 86,000 
			 Q2 2004 50,000 54,000 87,000 82,000 73,000 80,000 85,000 96,000 90,000 
			 Q2 2005 60,000 64,000 81,000 86,000 84,000 100,000 92,000 92,000 112,000 
			 Q2 2006 56,000 73,000 105,000 98,000 89,000 113,000 121,000 105,000 93,000 
			 Q2 2007 56,000 67,000 99,000 93,000 94,000 119,000 104,000 101,000 101,000 
			 Q2 2008 45,000 65,000 99,000 92,000 113,000 103,000 115,000 114,000 94,000 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage 
			Age 
			16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24 
			 Q2 2003 8.3 10.4 14.4 12.6 12.8 15.1 14.1 15.0 16.2 
			 Q2 2004 7.7 9.0 13.7 13.9 12.0 14.2 13.3 15.1 15.2 
			 Q2 2005 9.2 9.8 13.5 13.4 13.4 15.3 14.9 15.1 17.2 
			 Q2 2006 9.0 10.8 16.0 15.0 14.2 18.2 18.0 16.4 15.1 
			 Q2 2007 8.7 10.5 14.9 14.1 14.5 17.8 15.7 15.1 16.5 
			 Q2 2008 7.0 9.7 15.1 13.9 16.6 15.2 17.0 15.7 15.0 
			  Notes:  1. Age quoted is the respondent's academic age, which is defined as their age at the preceding 31( )August.  2. Estimates from the Labour Force Survey are subject to sampling error. The figures should therefore be treated with caution.   Source:  Labour Force Survey Q2 (April to June) of each year.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Adoption

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  for how many children who were  (a) white,  (b) mixed race,  (c) Asian or Asian British,  (d) black or black British and  (e) of other ethnic groups, it was decided that adoption was in their best interests in each of the last 10 years, broken down by local authority;
	(2)  how many children who were  (a) white,  (b) mixed race,  (c) Asian or Asian British,  (d) black or black British and  (e) of other ethnic groups, were adopted in each of the last 10 years, broken down by local authority.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Information on the date a decision is made that adoption is in the best interest is currently only collected retrospectively for those looked after children who are adopted. We currently do not collect information on when the decision is made for those children that are placed for adoption. However we have made a change to our data collection from 2008-09 which will mean from autumn 2009 we are able to provide this information for children when the decision is made, irrespective of whether the adoption has taken place.
	Information is published on the number of looked after children adopted by local authority. However this cannot be broken down by ethnicity due to data disclosure reasons. The number of children adopted in the year ending 31 March 2007 is just over 3,000. Breaking this down by local authority (see table LAE1) and then again by ethnicity would produce very small numbers and would result in most of the figures being suppressed with a hyphen (-). It may be possible to produce figures by local authority and ethnicity by region but we would be able to provide this only at a disproportionate cost.
	The available information by local authority can be found in table LAE1, taken from the Statistical First Release (SFR 27/2007) entitled 'Children looked after in England (including adoption and care leavers) year ending 31 March 2007'. This shows the number of looked after children adopted during the years ending 31 March 2003 to 2007.
	The SFR is located at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000741/index.shtml
	and table LAE1 can be found within the second set of Excel tables on the website.
	This table includes information for the last five years. Information for each of the last 10 years can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
	Information for the year ending 31 March 2008 will be released in our set of additional tables which we are planning to publish in December.
	The available information at a National level on characteristics of looked after children who are adopted can be found in table E1, taken from the Statistical First Release (SFR 23/2008) entitled 'Children looked after in England (including adoption and care leavers) year ending 31 March 2008'. This shows the number of Looked after Children adopted during the years ending 31 March 2004 to 2008 by gender, age at adoption, ethnic origin, category of need, final legal status, duration of final period of care and age on starting final period of care.
	The SFR is located at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000810/index.shtml
	and table E1 can be found within the first set of Excel tables on the website.

Arts: Education

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what guidance his Department has issued to Ofsted in respect of creative learning.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department has not issued specific guidance to Ofsted in respect of creative learning. It does however regularly engage with Ofsted on this and other policy matters so that HM Chief Inspector can consider any implications for inspection.
	Ofsted is undertaking a self-standing thematic survey of creativity across the school curriculum during 2008-09.

Children's Services Authorities: Equality

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what mechanisms exist for assessing the content and effectiveness of children's services authorities'  (a) disability and  (b) race equality schemes.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Joint Area Reviews and Annual Performance Assessment of children's services consider the arrangements that local authorities and their partners have put in place to secure race and disability equality for children and young people. This includes ensuring that race and disability equality schemes are in place and that there is evidence that the strategies and actions agreed are securing equality of opportunity for these children and young people.
	Joint Area Reviews include a detailed assessment and grade for the contribution of local services to improving outcomes for children and young people with disabilities and or learning difficulties. Where areas of weakness in race equality and other areas are identified then the JAR can include focused investigations into these issues.
	Joint Area Reviews and Annual Performance Assessments conclude in 2008-09 and are replaced by the Comprehensive Area Assessment, a new performance assessment framework, within which diversity will be promoted and assessments produced of arrangements for disability and race equality with identification of those services that need to improve. The Audit Commission is currently finalising its proposals for the new assessment. Ofsted is currently consulting on its role in Comprehensive Area Assessments in assessing children's services.

Curriculum

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his policy is on the extent to which the curriculum taught in publicly-funded schools should be determined centrally.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Our policy is for all pupils, irrespective of background or ability, to have an entitlement to a core of learning set out in the National Curriculum statutory Programmes of Study. It is the role of Government to decide the overall aims, values, principles and subject requirements of the National Curriculum, to ensure that all young people are prepared for their future role in society.
	Within this statutory framework, schools have the freedom to decide how to organise learning, taking account of local circumstances and the interests, aptitudes and backgrounds of their pupils.
	Schools may decide when and how National Curriculum Programmes of Study are delivered, which aspects to cover in depth, and how long to spend on each subject. They are not required to teach the subjects discretely and there are no prescribed time allocations for particular subjects. Schools may adapt the Programmes of Study in order to provide all pupils with appropriately challenging work at each key stage; they may group pupils in whichever way best meets their needs and are free to use a range of teaching methods. Head teachers may also introduce other experiences and subjects once they are satisfied that they are meeting the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum.
	Recent curriculum developments have been aimed at reducing the statutory core and allowing schools even more autonomy to organise their curriculum. With these changes I believe we have got the balance right between a national statutory curriculum entitlement and a school-level curriculum designed to meet the specific needs of pupils.

Departmental Consultants

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many external consultants supply services to his Department under contract.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: In keeping with good procurement practice most consultancy contracts placed by DCSF are based on a requirement for the delivery of outcomes or outputs, and not for a number of consultancy days or hours. We are, therefore, unable to answer the question in the way it has been asked. However, the total number of live consultancy contracts in DCSF at the end of August 2008 was 354.

Departmental Internet

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many page hits from how many visitors his Department's website received in 2007-08.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department's website received the following traffic in 2007-08:
	The number of page hits received is 48,826,311. This is the number of times any page on the Departmental website is viewed.
	Unique visitors to the site as a whole are 9,895,761. This is the number of visits people have made to the Departmental website.

Departmental Internet

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the cost of maintaining his Department's website was in 2007-08; and what the forecast costs for maintaining websites within his responsibility are in 2008-09.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Maintenance costs for the corporate part of the departmental website totalled 248,865 in 2007-08.
	The amount of funding centrally allocated and centrally managed for the maintenance of all websites in 2008-09 is 3,660,000.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was spent on entertainment by his Department in 2007-08; and how much of that sum is accounted for by expenditure on  (a) food,  (b) alcohol,  (c) staff and  (d) accommodation.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 6 October 2008,  Official Report, column 482W, to the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr. Hammond).
	DCSF is unable to separately identify individual costs within those for general entertainment as such expenditure is claimed and recorded under a general heading of 'Personal Entertainment'.

Departmental Pensions

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department and its agencies are members of the  (a) Classic,  (b) Classic Plus,  (c) NUVOS and  (d) Premium civil service pension schemes.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information is as follows.
	
		
			  Pension scheme  Number of staff  Proportion  (Percentage) 
			 Classic 1,955 73 
			 Premium and Classic Plus 608 22 
			 NUVOS 90 3 
			 Total 2,653 98 
		
	
	The Department does not hold details of individual numbers of staff in the Premium and Classic Plus schemes. This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The Department has no agencies.

Departmental Training

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what personal training courses at public expense he has undertaken since his appointment.

Edward Balls: I have undertaken no personal training courses at public expense since my appointment as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.

Employment Agencies

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which recruitment agencies  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have used in the last three years; and how much was paid to each of these recruitment agencies in each year.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department was established on 28 June 2007. The costs paid to recruitment agencies from July 2007 to date are as follows:
	
		
			
			 July 2007-March 2008 116,964 
			 April 2008-to date 120,419 
		
	
	The recruitment consultants employed for these purposes were all drawn from the Cabinet Office framework agreement.
	The Department has no agencies.

Financial Services: Education

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he has taken in response to OFSTED's evaluation of personal financial education in schools; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: We are working hard to improve personal finance education in schools through the My Money programme. This is a 10 million programme of support which will give children and young people a planned and coherent programme of financial capability education in schools. It is being driven by a consortium led by PFEG (Personal Finance Education Group) and will draw on best practice in financial education to develop resources and provide tailored support to schools. It will increase the capacity of teachers to deliver stimulating learning opportunities for young people in personal finance so that they leave school with the skills to manage their money well.
	We also recently announced our intention to make Personal, Social, Health and Economic education statutory, with an independent review looking into how to achieve this in an effective and practicable way. This underlines our commitment to ensuring that all children and young people have the confidence and competence to manage their money effectively.

Further Education: Student Wastage

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the drop out rates of colleges were in September  (a) 2008,  (b) 2007 and  (c) 2006.

Si�n Simon: I have been asked to reply.
	The percentage of qualifications being aimed for in FE colleges that learners did not complete is given in the following table. Figures relate to 16 to 18-year-olds and adults for 2004/05 to 2006/07. We cannot provide rates for September because they are calculated for whole academic years only. Figures for 2007/08 are not yet published.
	
		
			  FE college qualifications not completed( 1) 
			  Percentage 
			  Age group  2004/05  2005/06  2006/07 
			 16 to 18 15 13.5 12.4 
			 19+ 13 12.2 12.7 
			 All 13.7 12.7 12.6 
			 (1) Calculated using 100Retention rate. Retention rates are for all FE colleges and exclude external institutions.  Source: SFR: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000784/index.html

General Certificate of Secondary Education

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the effect on  (a) independent and  (b) home-school candidates of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's decision to change GCSE coursework arrangements from September 2009.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Controlled assessments will be introduced within GCSEs from next year to replace coursework. This will help to reassure the public that the work that students submit is their own, and maintain the integrity of the GCSE. Students who study from home by choice will attend centres, usually local schools or colleges, so that they can participate in these assessments. Those who study from home because they are sick or disabled will have special arrangements put in place which ensure they are not prevented from participating. We will keep these arrangements under review to ensure that all candidates have the best opportunity to have their learning accredited.

Grammar Schools: Admissions

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the likely changes in grammar school admission numbers consequent upon the Building Schools for the Future programme in the Bexley local authority in  (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford and  (b) Old Bexley and Sidcup constituencies in the next three years;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the likely changes in grammar school admission numbers consequent upon the Building Schools for the Future programme in the Southend-on-Sea local authority area in  (a) Rochford and Southend East and  (b) Southend West constituencies in the next three years.

Jim Knight: Each local authority assesses its pupil capacity just before entering the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, and puts forward proposals in its Strategy for Change (SfC) submission. Bexley and Southend-on-Sea are not yet in the BSF programme, so no information about their plans is available.

Learning and Skills Council

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many full-time equivalent staff will work for each new agency resulting from the dissolution of the Learning and Skills Council.

Si�n Simon: I have been asked to reply.
	Following the consultation on the White Paper Raising Expectations: enabling the system to deliver DCSF and DIUS are developing the organisational designs for the proposed new Young People's Learning Agency and Skills Funding Agency. These will be subject to consultation with employee representatives. A blueprint for the YPLA and a Post 19 implementation strategy are being developed for publication this autumn which will provide further detail.
	It is therefore too early to be able to provide staffing numbers for each agency at this stage. However, we are committed to retaining the valuable expertise of as many LSC people as possible and will continue to do all we can to support LSC staff, working with their representatives, to ensure they have as much certainty as possible about what their options will be, as the new organisational set up becomes clearer. The LSC has a good track record of delivering major restructuring programmes. For example, 'theme 7' of the LSC's Agenda for Change programme undertaken last year was designed to further streamline the organisation and give local offices a more strategic role, built around a stronger relationship with local authorities and other key stakeholders. Since 2003 staffing levels at the organisation have reduced from 7,000 to 3,451 (the average number of staff in full time equivalent numbers employed by the LSC for the year ending March 2008, including 269 agency and temporary staff and five inward secondees).

Pre-school Education: Qualifications

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of people who qualified in  (a) a Cache level two,  (b) a BTEC certificate, CACHE and City and Guilds and  (c) an NVQ level two in childcare in each year since 1997.

Si�n Simon: holding answer 23 October 2008
	I have been asked to reply.
	Data on learners achieving childcare qualifications have been provided for 2002-03 onwards. Comparable information is not available prior to the formation of the Learning and Skills Council in 2001.
	Table 1 shows the number of learners receiving a level 2 qualification in a child care related subject where the awarding body is CACHE.
	Table 2 shows the number of learners receiving a level 2 qualification in a child care related subject where the awarding body is CACHE or City and Guilds, or where the qualification type is a BTEC Certificate.
	Table 3 shows the number of learners receiving an NVQ level 2 qualification in a child care related subject.
	
		
			 Table 1: Learners receiving a level 2 qualification in a child care related subject, where the awarding body is CACHE 
			  Qualification type  Awarding body  Qualification  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 NVQ CACHE NVQ in Childcare and Education (Work in Support of Others)  
			   NVQ in Children's Care, Learning and Development620 3,350 
			   NVQ in Early Years Care and Education 1,640 2,180 3,340 3,400 930 
			   NVQ in Playwork 40 120 80 120 110 
			 
			 Other CACHE Certificate in Child Care and Education 4,000 4,450 5,170 5,390 5,890 
			   Certificate in Children's Care, Learning and Development40 350 
			   Certificate in Early Years Practice  30 230 260 60 
			   Certificate in Early Years Practice (Level 2) 20 30 40   
			   Certificate in Playwork 480 760 520 740 490 
			   Certificate in Pre-School Practice 1,360 1,750 1,910 1,640 1,800 
			   Certificate in Supporting Playwork Practice   30  10 
			   Developing Childminding Practice (Family Day Care) Stage 1 230 10
			   Early Years Practice  90
			   Introduction to Playwork 40 
			   Introduction to Pre-School Practice 540 10
			   Practical Parenting Award 40 
			 Total CACHE level 2 qualifications   8,380 9,430 11,310 12,220 12,980 
			  Notes: 1. Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding. 2. '' represents a figure of less than five. 3. These figures include qualifications gained at FE colleges and through work based learning.  Source:  FE and WBL ILR data 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Learners receiving a level 2 qualification in a child care related subject where the awarding body is CAHE or City and Guilds, or where the qualification is a BTEC Certificate. 
			  Qualification type  Awarding body  Qualification  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 NVQ CACHE NVQ in Childcare and Education (Work in Support of Others)  
			   NVQ in Children's Care, Learning and Development620 3,350 
			   NVQ in Early Years Care and Education 1,640 2,180 3,340 3,400 930 
			   NVQ in Playwork 40 120 80 120 110 
			 
			 Other CACHE Certificate in Child Care and Education 4,000 4,450 5,170 5,390 5,890 
			   Certificate in Children's Care, Learning and Development40 350 
			   Certificate in Early Years Practice  30 230 260 60 
			   Certificate in Early Years Practice (Level 2) 20 30 40   
			   Certificate in Playwork 480 760 520 740 490 
			   Certificate in Pre-School Practice 1,360 1,750 1,910 1,640 1,800 
			   Certificate in Supporting Playwork Practice   30  10 
			   Developing Childminding Practice (Family Day Care) Stage 1 230 10
			   Early Years Practice  90
			   Introduction to Playwork 40 
			   Introduction to Pre-School Practice 540 10
			   Practical Parenting Award 40 
			 Total CACHE level 2 qualifications   8,380 9,430 11,310 12,220 12,980 
			 
			 NVQ City and Guilds NVQ in Children's Care, Learning and Development400 3,610 
			   NVQ in Early Years Care and Education 2,380 2,710 5,290 5,200 1,690 
			   NVQ in Playwork 70 120 150 160 180 
			 
			 Other City and Guilds Certificate in Children's Care, Learning and Development40 310 
			   Certificate in Contributing, to the Early Years Setting   20   
			   Progression Award in Early Years Care and Education  50 100 130  
			   Progression Award in Playwork  10
			 Total City and Guilds level 2 qualifications   2,460 2,890 5,550 5,930 5,790 
			 
			 Other EDEXCEL BTEC Certificate in Children's Care, Learning and Development 70 
			   BTEC Certificate in Early Years Care and Education   40 190 50 
			   BTEC First Diploma in Children's Care, Learning and Development 990 
			   BTEC First Diploma in Early Years   780 1,090 40 
			 
			 GNVQ precursor EDEXCEL BTEC First Certificate in Children's Care, Learning and Development 70 
			 Total BTEC Level 2 qualifications 820 1,290 1,220 
			  Notes: 1. Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding 2. '' represents a figure of less than five. 3. These figures include qualifications gained at FE colleges and through work based learning.  Source: FE and WBL ILR data 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Learners receiving an NVQ level 2 qualification in a child care related subject 
			  Qualification type  Awarding body  Qualification  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 NVQ CACHE NVQ in Childcare and Education (Work in Support of Others)  
			   NVQ in Children's Care, Learning and Development620 3,350 
			   NVQ in Early Years Care and Education 1,640 2,180 3,340 3,400 930 
			   NVQ in Playwork 40 120 80 120 110 
			 
			  CG NVQ in Children's Care, Learning and Development400 3,610 
			   NVQ in Early Years Care and Education 2,380 2,710 5,290 5,200 1,690 
			   NVQ in Playwork 70 120 150 160 180 
			 
			  EDEXCEL NVQ in Children's Care, Learning and Development260 1,140 
			   NVQ in Early Years Care and Education 840 860 1,340 1,200 330 
			   NVQ in Playwork 50 60 30 30 30 
			 
			  EDI NVQ in Children's Care, Learning and Development20 240 
			   NVQ in Early Years Care and Education   60 70 40 
			 Total NVQ level 2 qualifications   5,030 6,050 10,270 11,490 11,640 
			  Notes: 1. Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding. 2. '' represents a figure of less than 10. 3. These figures include qualifications gained at FE colleges and through work based learning.  Source: FE and WBL ILR data

Primary Education

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many primary school teachers have a subject-specific specialism in each subject;
	(2)  how many primary schools do not have a teacher with a mathematics specialism;
	(3)  how many primary schools have an executive headteacher.

Jim Knight: The information requested in his question (232413) is not held centrally, however Advanced Skills Teachers, Leading Teachers, and other primary school teachers may be able to provide primary schools with specialist mathematics support. We do not hold numbers for how many are doing this centrally. The recent Independent Review of Mathematics Teaching in Early Years Settings and Primary Schools by Sir Peter Williams estimated that approximately 3,000 teachers with a mathematics specialism are currently working in primary schools. By 2019 we will have implemented Sir Peter's main recommendation in accordance with his timetable, so that all primary schools will have access to a mathematics specialist teacher with their numbers increasing to around 13,000.

Primary Education: Pupil Exclusions

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many primary school pupils of each age have been given a fixed-period exclusion, broken down by reason for exclusion, in the last 12 months.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The requested information is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Maintained primary schools( 1) : Number of fixed period exclusions by age and reason for exclusion( 2) , England, 2006-07 
			   Pupils 
			   Aged 2 and under  Aged 3  Aged 4  Aged 5  Aged 6  Aged 7  Aged 8  Aged 9  Aged 10  Aged 11 
			 Physical assault against a pupil 10 120 300 580 830 1,180 1,900 2,630 2,270 1,330 
			 Physical assault against an adult (4) 140 420 890 1,070 1,120 1,100 1,020 650 280 
			 Verbal abuse/threatening behaviour against a pupil 0 10 30 90 140 280 430 690 530 320 
			 Verbal abuse/threatening behaviour against an adult (4) 30 70 210 340 590 960 1,440 1,200 730 
			 Bullying 0 0 (4) 10 30 40 80 150 180 70 
			 Racist abuse 0 (4) (4) (4) 20 40 70 80 80 50 
			 Sexual misconduct 0 (4) (4) 20 20 20 50 50 70 30 
			 Drug and alcohol related 0 0 0 0 (4) (4) 10 20 20 10 
			 Damage 0 10 10 40 80 100 160 250 190 110 
			 Theft 0 0 (4) (4) 10 40 50 90 100 60 
			 Persistent disruptive behaviour 0 50 260 670 1,160 1,750 2,490 3,390 2,720 1,460 
			 Other (4) 20 50 100 190 350 560 840 690 370 
			 Total 20 380 1,140 2,610 3,890 5,500 7,860 10,640 8,680 4,820 
		
	
	
		
			   Pupils  
			   Aged 12  Aged 13  Aged 14  Aged 15  Aged 16  Aged 17  Aged 18  Aged 19 and over  Total( 3) 
			 Physical assault against a pupil 50 (4) 0 0 0 0 0 0 11,210 
			 Physical assault against an adult 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6,710 
			 Verbal abuse/threatening behaviour against a pupil 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2,520 
			 Verbal abuse/threatening behaviour against an adult 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5,590 
			 Bullying 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 560 
			 Racist abuse 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 350 
			 Sexual misconduct (4) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 260 
			 Drug and alcohol related (4) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 60 
			 Damage (4) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 950 
			 Theft (4) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 340 
			 Persistent disruptive behaviour 70 0 (4) 0 0 0 0 0 14,030 
			 Other 10 (4) 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,180 
			 Total 180 (4) (4) 0 0 0 0 0 45,740 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed.  (2) Age as at 31 August 2006.  (3) Includes 10 exclusions for which missing or invalid date of birth was recorded. These have been included in the total only.  (4) Less than 5.   Note:  Totals may not appear to equal the sum of component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.   Source:  School Census.

Review of Sex and Relationship Education

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  who the head of the Review of Sex and Relationship Education is; what relevant specialist qualifications he or she holds; where the post was advertised; how many persons applied for the post; how many were short-listed for interview; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  who the members of the body conducting the Review of Sex and Relationship Education are; what relevant specialist qualifications each holds; when each was appointed and by whom; where each vacancy was advertised; how many persons applied for each post; how many were short-listed for interview; where the Review of Sex and Relationship Education is located; how much he expects to be spent by it during the next 12 months on  (a) office accommodation,  (b) staff costs,  (c) travel and subsistence and  (d) staff bonuses; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) review has been completed. The SRE review steering group's report and the Government response to it were both published on 23 October. A copy of the group's report and the response are available at:
	http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/docbank/index.cfm?id=13030
	Members of the SRE review steering groupincluding the two co-chairswere appointed by Ministers. Members fell into one or more of the following categories:
	Members with practical experience of planning and delivering SRE in schools: including a head teacher, PSHE teacher, school nurse, school governor and, at a local authority level, a director of Children's Services and PSHE adviser;
	Members with expert knowledge of young people's sexual health;
	Young People; and
	Representatives from Faith Groups and experts on wider diversity issues.
	A full list of steering group members follows. Apart from travel expenses, none of the steering group members were paid. DCSF officials provided the secretariat for the review and their salaries and associated costs were met from within existing departmental running costs. The Sex Education Forum was paid around 10,000 to undertake further consultation with young people, including the design and implementation of two on-line surveys and for analysing the results of those surveys. Further information on these surveys is included in the group's report.
	 Steering group membership
	Jackie Fisher (co-chair)Principal and Chief Executive, Newcastle College
	Joshua McTaggart (co-chair)UKYP Member for Weston Super Mare
	John FreemanDirector of Children's Services, Sandwell and Dudley
	Hazel PulleyHead teacher, Caldecote Primary School, Leicester
	Ama OwuzuruVice-President, National Union of Students (Further Education)
	Hilda HodsonDeputy Head teacher, Standish High School, Wigan
	Charlie WareSchool Governor, Camden
	Desmond FloodPSHE Co-ordinator, Bartley Green School, Birmingham
	Annie HargreavesLA adviser on PSHE  Healthy Schools, Hounslow
	Anna MartinezHead of Sex Education Forum
	Chris McDermottSpecialist Practitioner School Nursing, Central Surrey Health
	Professor Roger InghamUniversity of Southampton
	Gill FrancesChair, Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group
	Simon BlakeChief Executive, Brook
	Jan CampbellPSHE Subject Association
	Margaret JonesHMI (PSHE Subject Adviser), Ofsted
	Gareth DaviesTerrence Higgins Trust
	Oona StannardChief Executive, Catholic Education Service
	Liz CarterChurch of England National Society
	Sandy YoungsonMethodist Church
	Shaila SheikhEducation Equalities Adviser, East Sussex LA
	David KestertonManager of fpa's 'Speakeasy' programme
	Robert SassoonUKYP Member, Reading
	Katrina MatherUKYP Member, East Sussex
	Sarah SmartPSHE Subject Association

Schools: Disabled

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many schools in England have produced an accessibility plan in compliance with section 280 of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: All schools should have in place an accessibility plan in compliance with section 28D of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Data on schools that have produced accessibility plans are not collected centrally by the Department.
	However, schools are expected to complete a self-evaluation form under Ofsted's inspection arrangements, confirming the extent to which they have met the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and other equalities legislation.
	The Secretary of State has the power, under section 28M of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, to direct schools to comply with the legislation, if he deems the school has failed to so.

Schools: Transport

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will bring forward proposals to extend the periods during which schoolchildren can use their bus passes, in order to facilitate participation in after-school activities.

Paul Clark: I have been asked to reply.
	There is currently no statutory entitlement for free bus travel for young people. At present 48 per cent. of young people walk or cycle to school and there is a risk that a blanket concession could encourage young people who currently walk or cycle to take the bus. However, local authorities can use their existing powers to offer local concessionary travel to young people.
	From September 2008 the Education and Inspections Act 2006 extends entitlement to free school transport for pupils entitled to free school meals or whose parents are in receipt of maximum working tax credit. At secondary age, pupils attending one of their three nearest schools that is between two and six miles from their home, and those attending their nearest school preferred on grounds of religion or belief between two and 15 miles, will be entitled to free school transport.

Secondary Education: Colchester

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent discussions his Department has had with  (a) the Chief Executive of the Academies Enterprise Trust,  (b) the headteacher at the Greensward School at Hockley,  (c) the patron of the Academies Enterprise Trust and  (d) the Chairman of Essex County Council on (i) secondary school reorganisation in Colchester and (ii) the establishment of one or more academies in Colchester.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information is as follows:
	 (a and b) Officials met with David Triggs, chief executive of the Academies Enterprise Trust and principal of Greensward School, on 9 October to discuss in principle how the trust and the academies in the area might co-operate more closely with local primary schools for the collective benefit of pupils in the area.
	 (c) The leader of Essex county council is the patron of the Academies Enterprise Trust and discussed possible options on secondary school reorganisation and academies in Colchester when he met the then Parliamentary Under Secretary, Lord Adonis, on 12 September. However, this was in his capacity as leader of Essex county council and not as patron of the Academies Enterprise Trust.
	 (d) The leader of Essex county council outlined possible options on secondary school reorganisation and academies in Colchester when he met the then Under Secretary, Lord Adonis, on 12 September.

Special Educational Needs

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils had a statement of special educational needs in  (a) England and  (b) Stoke-on-Trent, broken down by age group at the latest date for which figures are available.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The requested information is shown in the tables.
	
		
			  State funded primary and secondary schools( 1) : Number of pupils with special educational needs by age and gender( 2,3) position in January 2008Stoke-on-Trent local authority and England 
			   Stoke-on-Trent 
			   Pupils with SEN without statements( 5) 
			   Boys  Girls  Total 
			  Pupils aged:  Number of pupils  Percentage  of school population( 6)  Number of pupils  Percentage  of school population( 6)  Number of pupils  Percentage  of school population( 6) 
			 2 and under 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
			 3 110 9.2 52 4.3 162 6.8 
			 4 308 22.2 159 11.9 467 17.1 
			 5 415 31.4 189 15.6 604 23.9 
			 6 466 36.7 233 18.7 699 27.8 
			 7 471 36.1 286 22.0 757 29.1 
			 8 433 33.7 238 18.0 671 25.7 
			 9 431 32.0 245 19.5 676 26.0 
			 10 487 32.9 277 20.2 764 26.8 
			 11 378 31.2 259 20.9 637 26.0 
			 12 381 28.8 251 19.8 632 24.4 
			 13 353 26.6 204 16.3 557 21.6 
			 14 387 29.3 284 20.7 671 24.9 
			 15 402 27.9 272 20.3 674 24.3 
			 16 3 2.3 4 3.0 7 2.7 
			 17 4 4.1 5 3.4 9 3.7 
			 18 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
			 19+ 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
			 Total(4) 5,030 28.8 2,960 17.4 7,990 23.2 
		
	
	
		
			  Stoke-on-Trent 
			   Pupils with statements 
			   Boys  Girls  Total 
			  Pupils aged:  Number of pupils  Percentage of school population( 6)  Number of pupils  Percentage of school population( 6)  Number of pupils  Percentage of school population( 6) 
			 2 and under 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
			 3 3 0.3 * * 5 0.2 
			 4 6 0.4 4 0.3 10 0.4 
			 5 13 1.0 5 0.4 18 0.7 
			 6 12 0.9 9 0.7 21 0.8 
			 7 16 1.2 9 0.7 25 1.0 
			 8 34 2.6 10 0.8 44 1.7 
			 9 38 2.8 14 1.1 52 2.0 
			 10 63 4.3 17 1.2 80 2.8 
			 11 53 4.4 14 1.1 67 2.7 
			 12 58 4.4 19 1.5 77 3.0 
			 13 58 4.4 17 1.4 75 2.9 
			 14 63 4.8 16 1.2 79 2.9 
			 15 81 5.6 24 1.8 105 3.8 
			 16 * * * * 3 1.1 
			 17 * * 0 0.0 * * 
			 18 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
			 19+ 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
			 Total(4) 500 2.9 160 0.9 660 1.9 
			 * = Less than 3. (1) Includes City Technology Colleges and Academies. (2) Age as at 31 August 2007. (3) Excludes dually registered pupils. (4) National and total across all ages figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. (5) Includes pupils at School Action and School Action Plus. (6) Number of SEN pupils expressed as a percentage of all pupils of the same age and gender.  Source: School Census 
		
	
	
		
			  State funded primary and secondary schools( 1) : Number of pupils with special educational needs by age and gender( 2,3) position in January 2008Stoke-on-Trent local authority and England 
			   England( 4) 
			   Pupils with SEN without statements( 5) 
			   Boys  Girls  Total 
			  Pupils aged:  Number of pupils  Percentage  of school population( 6)  Number of pupils  Percentage  of school population( 6)  Number of pupils  Percentage  of school population( 6) 
			 2 and under 450 2.4 200 1.1 650 1.8 
			 3 8,360 6.7 3,930 3.2 12,290 5.0 
			 4 30,840 11.1 14,550 5.5 45,390 8.3 
			 5 57,520 21.2 28,530 11.0 86,050 16.2 
			 6 71,310 26.1 38,190 14.6 109,500 20.5 
			 7 77,090 27.8 41,780 15.7 118,870 21.9 
			 8 80,000 28.1 44,050 16.2 124,050 22.2 
			 9 79,930 27.8 45,510 16.5 125,440 22.3 
			 10 79,480 27.0 46,630 16.4 126,110 21.8 
			 11 73,150 25.7 45,360 16.6 118,510 21.2 
			 12 71,330 24.8 44,000 15.8 115,330 20.4 
			 13 68,720 23.5 42,630 15.0 111,350 19.3 
			 14 64,850 22.2 41,020 14.4 105,880 18.4 
			 15 63,250 21.3 42,070 14.5 105,310 17.9 
			 16 7,050 7.2 5,340 5.0 12,390 6.1 
			 17 3,460 4.7 2,760 3.2 6,220 3.9 
			 18 460 5.8 470 6.3 930 6.0 
			 19+ 30 6.3 50 6.8 80 6.6 
			 Total(4) 837,280 22.4 487,050 13.4 1,324,330 18.0 
		
	
	
		
			  England( 4) 
			   Pupils with statements 
			   Boys  Girls  Total 
			  Pupils aged:  Number of pupils  Percentage of school population( 6)  Number of pupils  Percentage of school population( 6)  Number of pupils  Percentage of school population( 6) 
			 2 and under 20 0.1 20 0.1 40 0.1 
			 3 410 0.3 240 0.2 650 0.3 
			 4 2,640 0.9 1,250 0.5 3,890 0.7 
			 5 3,910 1.4 1,570 0.6 5,490 1.0 
			 6 4,900 1.8 1,960 0.7 6,860 1.3 
			 7 5,960 2.1 2,320 0.9 8,280 1.5 
			 8 7,320 2.6 2,640 1.0 9,960 1.8 
			 9 8,160 2.8 2,990 1.1 11,150 2.0 
			 10 9,590 3.3 3,360 1.2 12,950 2.2 
			 11 8,710 3.1 3,010 1.1 11,710 2.1 
			 12 9,160 3.2 3,220 1.2 12,380 2.2 
			 13 9,520 3.3 3,340 1.2 12,860 2.2 
			 14 9,740 3.3 3,580 1.3 13,330 2.3 
			 15 9,510 3.2 3,630 1.3 13,140 2.2 
			 16 1,600 1.6 760 0.7 2,350 1.2 
			 17 710 1.0 350 0.4 1,070 0.7 
			 18 180 2.2 90 1.2 260 1.7 
			 19+ 10 2.3 10 1.6 20 1.9 
			 Total(4) 92,050 2.5 34,350 0.9 126,390 1.7 
			 (1) Includes City Technology Colleges and Academies. (2) Age as at 31 August 2007. (3) Excludes dually registered pupils. (4) National and total across all ages figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. (5) Includes pupils at School Action and School Action Plus. (6) Number of SEN pupils expressed as a percentage of all pupils of the same age and gender.  Source: School Census

Special Educational Needs

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his Department's policy is on the provision of choice of school for parents whose children require complex educational and specialist health provision.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The present statutory framework provides for children with statements of special educational needs to be taught in mainstream schools where this is what their parents want and is compatible with the efficient education of other children. It also provides for parents to seek a special school place and to have this preference considered.
	The Education Act 1996 places a general duty on local authorities to secure that there are sufficient schools for providing primary and secondary school education and requires them in particular to have regard to the need to secure that special educational provision is made for pupils with special educational needs. The Education and Inspections Act 2006 requires local authorities to consider and respond to parental representations when carrying out their planning duty.

Specialised Diplomas

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many students have enrolled for the new diploma courses in 2008, broken down by  (a) subject and  (b) level.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The latest information we have from local consortia indicates that around 12,000 young people are currently working towards a diploma qualification, based upon returns from all but four of the local authorities involved. By line and level, this breaks down as:
	
		
			  Line  Level 1  Level 2  Level 3  Total 
			 Construction and the Built Environment 447 942 157 1,546 
			 Creative and Media 536 2,430 637 3,603 
			 Engineering 585 1,780 403 2,768 
			 Information Technology 353 1,146 331 1,830 
			 Society, Heath, and Development 274 1,124 394 1,792

Specialised Diplomas

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the effect on student travel  (a) time and  (b) costs of the provision of a single 14-19 diploma jointly by different institutions.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Travel arrangements for diploma delivery will vary considerably depending upon the local context, so we do not collect this information at a national level. Rather, local authorities, 14-19 partnerships and consortia take student travel time and cost of travel into account in planning for diploma delivery.
	In each of the 40 most rural areas, we have funded the post of Transport and Access Co-ordinator (at 75,000 per local authority for 18 months from September 2008) to allow these local authorities to investigate and arrange more effective and efficient transport for their young people accessing diplomas. We have also made funding available through the diploma formula grant to reflect the additional costs of travel between institutions in more sparsely populated local authorities. Details of how this funding was calculated can be found in the diploma grant guidance issued to local authorities and 14-19 partnerships in December 2007. This document can be accessed through the 14-19 education and skills website at
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/14-19/
	within the 14-19 funding section under diploma funding.

Teachers: Sick Leave

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much time off due to illness was taken by teachers in  (a) the Ribble Valley,  (b) Lancashire and  (c) England in each of the last five years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: holding answer 30 October 2008
	Information is not available at constituency level for teacher sickness absence. Figures on teacher sickness absence by local authority area are shown in the following statistical publications:
	School Workforce in England (including Local Authority level figures), January 2008 (Revised)(Calendar year figures for 2007 are shown in table 24)
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000813/index.shtml
	School Workforce in England (including pupil: teacher ratios and pupil: adult ratios), January 2007 (Revised)(Calendar year figures for 2006 are shown in table 22).
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000743/index.shtml
	School Workforce in England (including pupil: teacher ratios and pupil: adult ratios), January 2006 (Revised) (Calendar year figures for 2005 are shown in table 22).
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000681/index.shtml
	Figures for Teacher Sickness Absence by Local Authority for calendar year 2004 were not published on the website. The information requested has been placed in the Library.
	School workforce in England, 2004 edition (including teachers' pay for England and Wales)(Calendar year figures for 2003 are shown in table A6).
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000554/index.shtml
	
		
			  Teacher sickness absence: Full-time and part-time teacher sickness absence in calendar year 2004 by local education authority( 1) . England 
			   Full-time (or full-time plus part-time if figures combined, see footnotes)  Part-time 
			   Number taking absence  Total number of days taken  Days taken as part of absences of more than 20 days  Number taking absence  Total number of days taken  Days taken as part of absences of more than 20 days 
			 Darlington 410 4,030 2,000 40 290 210 
			 Hartlepool 510 6,000 3,250 30 440 300 
			 Middlesbrough 660 7,670 3,880 110 730 330 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 720 6,390 3,080 140 1,060 590 
			 Stockton on Tees 1,020 9,470 4,170 140 1,780 1,130 
			 Durham 2,720 27,350 16,160 290 2,470 1,550 
			 Northumberland 1,210 10,510 5,470 180 1,910 1,220 
			 Gateshead 970 8,800 3,700 120 1,330 620 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 1,130 10,250 4,140 130 1,330 380 
			 North Tyneside 830 8,440 4,260 100 1,290 790 
			 South Tyneside 650 8,070 4,130 40 720 500 
			 Sunderland 1,550 17,570 9,010 120 1,120 560 
			 North east 12,370 124,540 63,250 1,420 14,470 8,170 
			
			 Blackburn with Darwen 740 9,070 4,930 100 1,590 1,140 
			 Blackpool 770 7,980 3,640 110 890 390 
			 Halton 610 6,500 3,030 70 760 390 
			 Warrington 1,060 12,680 7,500 110 870 450 
			 Cheshire 3,570 34,220 15,210 570 4,670 2,320 
			 Cumbria 1,570 14,670 6,410 290 2,880 1,350 
			 Bolton 1,560 15,050 5,210 200 1,820 590 
			 Bury 1,000 10,670 4,990 100 420 120 
			 Manchester 2,000 22,490 13,440 290 2,390 1,270 
			 Oldham 1,250 13,190 5,500 130   
			 Rochdale 1,260 12,250 5,360 130 1,610 960 
			 Salford 930 20,050 15,160 180 7,250 6,350 
			 Stockport 1,320 13,710 5,590 280 2,920 1,190 
			 Tameside 1,280 13,060 5,810 140 1,680 710 
			 Trafford 840 9,820 5,130 120 2,150 1,550 
			 Wigan 1,850 18,320 9,540 190 1,790 1,020 
			 Lancashire 5,720 69,440 40,220 970 12,130 7,980 
			 Knowsley 1,010 11,710 5,890 70 530 90 
			 Liverpool 2,730 33,810 18,390 250 3,520 2,160 
			 St. Helens 990 10,790 5,230 90 1,270 680 
			 Sefton 1,640 13,620 4,750 190 1,770 690 
			 Wirral 1,510 16,920 10,110 270 1,530 720 
			 North West 35,190 389,990 201,020 4,840 54,450 32,130 
			
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 1,620 17,600 10,770
			 City of Kingston Upon Hull 1,580 18,520 5,100 190 930 370 
			 North East Lincolnshire 940 9,780 3,860 150 2,480 1,700 
			 North Lincolnshire 710 6,290 2,880 100 750 440 
			 York 860 8,700 4,760 180 1,550 440 
			 North Yorkshire 2,920 30,470 14,170 2,900 8,840 3,480 
			 Barnsley 1,110 14,480 8,610 80 890 540 
			 Doncaster 1,760 19,620 9,800 230 2,520 1,350 
			 Rotherham 1,620 19,520 8,200 120 780 220 
			 Sheffield 2,600 29,050 15,350 630 8,330 5,600 
			 Bradford 2,600 28,880 13,510 420 3,800 1,980 
			 Calderdale 1,100 11,030 5,250 210 2,530 1,580 
			 Kirklees 2,060 25,260 14,470 360 3,440 1,620 
			 Leeds 3,780 42,760 19,620 560 3,860 1,940 
			 Wakefield 1,670 17,660 9,490 250 3,020 1,730 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 26,910 299,620 145,830 6,390 43,710 22,970 
			 Derby 1,260 11,820 4,750 30 330 180 
			 Leicester 1,480 14,970 4,800 140 1,210 440 
			 Nottingham 1,490 15,020 6,770 240 2,720 1,490 
			 Rutland 130 1,420 530 40 310 40 
			 Derbyshire 3,240 42,120 21,420 810 9,740 5,100 
			 Leicestershire 2,930 23,140 8,770 990 14,440 10,180 
			 Lincolnshire 3,200 36,730 8,910 550 7,910 1,950 
			 Northamptonshire 2,540 22,300 10,050 520 7,090 4,880 
			 Nottinghamshire 3,150 46,760 18,600 600 9,930 4,100 
			 East Midlands 19,440 214,270 84,600 3,910 53,670 28,360 
			
			 Herefordshire 750 6,140 2,310 200 2,090 1,270 
			 Stoke on Trent 1,300 14,080 7,000
			 Telford and Wrekin 890 9,090 4,070 150 660 140 
			 Shropshire 1,190 8,510 2,470 290 2,970 1,820 
			 Staffordshire 4,060 44,890 21,660 810 6,060 2,130 
			 Warwickshire 2,850 27,410 10,750 580 5,700 2,370 
			 Birmingham 6,160 65,530 29,080 900 6,510 2,150 
			 Coventry 1,650 14,750 4,780 270 2,350 960 
			 Dudley 1,540 16,130 7,750 70 500 210 
			 Sandwell 1,740 24,810 14,590 190 2,600 1,480 
			 Solihull 1,180 10,710 4,760 290 2,410 1,340 
			 Walsall 1,950 14,130 2,970 190 1,320 700 
			 Wolverhampton 1,590 15,760 6,790 210 1,410 590 
			 Worcestershire 2,870 27,170 13,580 570 2,850 1,320 
			 West Midlands 29,700 299,110 132,540 4,720 37,410 16,480 
			
			 Luton 790 7,750 3,290 150 1,100 310 
			 Peterborough 1,240 9,700 3,750 200 1,270 480 
			 Southend on Sea 1,160 11,220 4,980 170 1,530 730 
			 Thurrock 840 8,690 4,220 80 470 60 
			 Bedfordshire 2,260 18,130 6,960 400 3,470 1,800 
			 Cambridgeshire 2,430 21,850 5,070 550 5,050 1,520 
			 Essex 7,080 61,120 22,190 1,360 7,650 3,790 
			 Hertfordshire 4,150 41,490 24,910 1,050 11,120 7,620 
			 Norfolk 1,910 22,200 6,500 520 5,980 1,750 
			 Suffolk 3,220 25,030 6,200 890 8,070 3,000 
			 East of England 25,100 227,160 88,060 5,350 45,700 21,070 
			
			 Camden 970 7,820 2,680 180 1,060 440 
			 City of London 10 20   100 100 
			 Hackney 1,140 11,170 4,790 140 1,040 470 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 790 5,140 1,230 60 290 60 
			 Haringey 1,400 12,240 4,370 170 1,550 830 
			 Islington 1,050 8,180 2,360 170 1,110 320 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 440 3,260 1,170 60 420 180 
			 Lambeth 1,120 8,260 2,470 160 820 210 
			 Lewisham 950 7,570 2,740 150 1,260 570 
			 Newham 2,050 17,410 7,110 150 1,400 690 
			 Southwark 1,500 11,870 3,800 150 700 250 
			 Tower Hamlets 1,660 14,430 4,570 220 1,380 350 
			 Wandsworth 1,080 7,930 3,060 220 1,450 720 
			 City of Westminster 660 4,700 930 60 500 230 
			 Barking and Dagenham 1,090 8,280 2,390 120 1,540 850 
			 Barnet 1,780 10,740 4,010 510 3,690 60 
			 Bexley 1,370 10,960 3,610 160 980 410 
			 Brent 1,740 12,160 3,620 160 780 100 
			 Bromley 1,760 14,590 5,070 290 1,880 640 
			 Croydon 1,910 16,730 6,860 650 2,490 1,260 
			 Ealing 1,500 10,110 2,840 200 2,270 1,100 
			 Enfield 1,530 12,180 5,960 240 2,040 1,120 
			 Greenwich 1,590 12,630 4,650 260 1,740 810 
			 Harrow 1,070 8,040 2,640 220 1,310 580 
			 Havering 1,280 9,720 3,700 150 570 130 
			 Hillingdon 1,650 12,180 2,480 170 910 120 
			 Hounslow 1,380 10,510 3,780 190 1,180 270 
			 Kingston upon Thames 560 4,210 1,290 270 1,690 750 
			 Merton 710 6,230 2,650 110 580 150 
			 Redbridge 1,790 14,460 5,360 250 1,730 700 
			 Richmond upon Thames 620 5,200 2,400 150 1,460 820 
			 Sutton 1,110 8,530 3,270 200 1,030 200 
			 Waltham Forest 1,330 9,960 5,870 160 990 360 
			 London 40,590 317,390 113,710 6,330 41,920 15,850 
			
			 Bracknell Forest 480 2,280 550 90 600 240 
			 Brighton and Hove 1,190 11,600 5,090 350 2,130 880 
			 Isle of Wight 620 6,810 3,460 130 1,250 560 
			 Medway 1,390 12,570 4,840 720 2,300 1,260 
			 Milton Keynes 1,110 5,840 2,280 250 450  
			 Portsmouth 970 10,130 4,910 130 1,700 1,050 
			 Reading 560 5,700 2,610 90 990 620 
			 Slough 810 6,460 2,060 110 950 490 
			 Southampton 1,190 10,270 4,030 190 1,520 650 
			 West Berkshire 810 4,950 1,390 130 830 240 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 490 5,140 2,250 150 2,870 1,990 
			 Wokingham 650 4,930 960 160 1,400 440 
			 Buckinghamshire 1,850 16,560 9,250 440 4,440 2,880 
			 East Sussex 2,390 20,090 8,030 570 3,400 1,840 
			 Hampshire 4,320 36,890 10,540 850 6,230 2,000 
			 Kent 7,200 62,770 24,360 1,080 7,210 2,730 
			 Oxfordshire 1,900 17,320 10,900 390 3,350 1,970 
			 Surrey 3,700 31,050 7,010 940 7,830 1,970 
			 West Sussex 3,760 32,090 11,850 930 8,990 4,560 
			 South East 35,380 303,420 116,330 7,710 58,430 26,360 
			
			 Bath and North East Somerset 780 5,790 2,720 180 1,130 610 
			 Bournemouth 740 8,360 3,720 140 1,010 420 
			 City of Bristol 1,880 18,270 6,780 340 3,380 1,910 
			 North Somerset 1,000 11,090 5,640 180 1,240 550 
			 Plymouth 1,280 12,300 3,930 220 2,100 700 
			 Poole 590 5,280 1,500 100 790 200 
			 South Gloucestershire 1,400 13,020 5,630 350 3,050 1,430 
			 Swindon 1,010 8,220 3,760 160 1,920 1,230 
			 Torbay 720 7,920 4,210 130 1,800 1,070 
			 Cornwall 2,350 27,670 16,520 130 520 320 
			 Isles of Scilly  60 60
			 Devon 2,730 27,890 14,250 680 8,900 5,560 
			 Dorset 1,910 18,670 6,030 430 3,450 960 
			 Gloucestershire 1,560 16,570 8,950 510 3,890 1,990 
			 Somerset 3,170   810   
			 Wiltshire 1,640 15,020 3,100 370 2,380 670 
			 South West 22,740 196,140 86,790 4,730 35,550 17,600 
			
			 England(2) 247,400 2,397,900 1,043,300 45,400 398,200 195,500 
			 (1) Sickness absence on working days, whether paid absence or not, of teachers with permanent contracts or contracts of over one month. The number of teachers taking sick leave includes an individual teacher only once however many periods of sickness absence they have had. The number of days taken as sick leave includes all periods of sick leave. (2) England totals include estimates for local authorities where information is not available and are rounded to the nearest 100.  Source:  DfES annual 618G survey

Work Experience

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment he has made of the impact of the current downturn in the economy on courses involving any form of work experience.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: There has been no direct assessment of the impact on work experience placements of current events in the economy.
	Information from the LSC from 2006-07, the last complete academic year for which we have data, shows that 480,000 work experience placements took place during Key Stage 4, supported by education business partnership organisations. We estimate that around 300,000 employers work with education each year. On that basis we are confident that young people will continue to have access to work experience but will keep this under review.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Emissions

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his policy is on proposals from the French Presidency for a co-decision procedure for the EU to adopt a 30 per cent. reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2020 from a 1990 baseline.

Joan Ruddock: The Government believe that the EU's commitment to a 30 per cent. reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as part of a comprehensive international agreement should be built firmly into the current EU Climate and Energy Package. We believe that the trigger for moving to the higher EU GHG target should be the EU's ratification of an international climate agreement for post-2012. Once the decision to ratify is taken, we favour amending the EU's implementing legislation by the comitology procedure rather than co-decision. This is in line with the proposal from the European Commission and the position taken by the European Parliament. However, ultimately, it is the commitment to the 30 per cent. reduction target that is of greatest importance. Whatever process is put in place to move to a higher target, it must be swift and transparent.

Coal

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many tonnes of coal reserves exist in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) the UK.

Mike O'Brien: The Coal Authority estimates that the UK has 3,380 million tonnes of coal resources.
	Of this, 270 million tonnes is economically recoverable coal in the 'reserves category' (i.e. proved and probably mineable coal) at current deep mines and sites subject to conditional deep mine licences. A further 75 million tonnes are at existing surface mines, those with planning approval granted and those currently in the planning process.
	The Coal Authority estimates there to be 235 million tonnes of previously proven reserves remaining in closed deep mines still in licence. A further 2,030 million tonnes of potential deep mine prospects and 765 million tonnes at potential surface mine prospects, including those in pre-planning and resources within former conditional licences.
	No detailed regional breakdown of these figures is readily available.

Energy: Waste Management

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the quantity of wasted energy in the form of heat produced by energy from waste plants in England in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what proportion this represents of the total energy produced from the sites.

Mike O'Brien: There were 18 permitted municipal energy from waste plants in England in 2006. Four of these were operating as combined heat and power (CHP) plants and therefore their heat energy is not wasted. For the remaining 14, wasted heat energy is assessed at approximately 1.1 TWh for the year 2006. This calculation allows for some plants that are not yet working at full capacity and takes into account their own energy requirements for incineration. This figure is based on an estimate of 12.5 per cent. for the average thermal inefficiency of electricity-only energy from waste systems relative to CHP.
	The Government have consulted on changes to regulations to make it easier for operators of CHP energy from waste plants to claim ROCs (renewable obligation certificates) under the renewables obligation.
	As well as the 18 municipal plants discussed, there were a further 85 permitted waste incineration facilities in England in 2006. Due to differences in the calorific value of the wastes they accept, we have no estimate of the waste heat energy from those plants.

Mircogeneration

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure that community scale renewable electricity technologies such as solar photo voltaics and small wind can contribute fully to help to reach the 2020 renewable energy target.

Mike O'Brien: As part of developing the renewable energy strategy which will be published in spring 2009 we are considering how to encourage onsite technologies including community scale renewable technologies such as solar photovoltaics and small wind. The Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change recently announced the Government's view that a feed-in tariff for small-scale generation can play an important role alongside the renewables obligation for large-scale projects. We plan to bring an amendment to the Energy Bill to make this happen.
	Currently, electricity generated from solar PV is also eligible for support under the renewables obligation (RO), which is the Government's main mechanism for encouraging new renewable electricity generation. Generators currently receive one renewable obligation certificate (ROC) for every 1MWh of renewable electricity. Under reforms to the RO, we are proposing that solar PV receive two ROCs per MWh.
	The low carbon buildings programme (LCBP) is the Government's 86 million demonstration grant programme. Under LCBP Phase 2, with a 50 million budget, we support community scale projects for the public sector and not for profit organisations.

Nuclear Power

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what proportion of the national electricity requirement the Government envisage being met by nuclear generation by 2020.

Mike O'Brien: The Government published their latest energy and emissions projections in May 2007. The document is available at:
	http://berr.gov.uk/files/file39580.pdf.
	These projections assume that the share of nuclear electricity generation in 2020 would be around 6 per cent., based on the continued operation of three existing plants. An updated set of projections is due to be published shortly.

Power Stations: Standards

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has made of the case for applying emission performance standards to the approval of new power plants.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 15 October 2008
	In the context of the Energy Bill, the Department has considered the concept of an emission performance standard for new power stations. We do not support the introduction of such a standard because it would not yield any additional carbon savings as missions from the power sector are already capped under the EU emissions trading scheme. Furthermore, it presents a number of risks:
	potentially undermining the EU ETS;
	to the UK's security of energy suppliesin particular it would be likely to lead to increased dependence on gas and therefore in turn, higher electricity prices for consumers; and
	to the deployment of carbon capture and storage technologies, should such a standard rule out new coal-fired power stations. This is because the lower efficiency of existing coal-fired power stations makes retrofitting of carbon capture and storage equipment a less attractive option, because that in itself will reduce the efficiency of a power station.

Radioactive Materials: Waste Disposal

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which Ministers in his Department are responsible for policy on  (a) nuclear safety and  (b) nuclear waste storage and disposal.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 13 October 2008
	I am.

Radioactive Materials: Waste Management

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the arrangements are for the utilisation and disposal of the former Berkeley Nuclear Laboratories site; and what consultation is planned as part of that process.

Mike O'Brien: The former Berkeley Nuclear Laboratories site was split at the end of 2006, between the Berkeley Nuclear Licensed site and the Berkeley Centre, which lies outside of the nuclear licensed site. The licensed site is at an advanced stage of decommissioning and, as a result, all activities are focused on clean-up and waste management. There are no commercial activities carried out on the licensed site. Details are set out in the site Lifetime Plan, reflected in the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's strategy and annual plans. The Berkeley Centre is managed as an asset by the NDA, which is considering options for its use or disposal in consultation with stakeholders.

JUSTICE

Community Orders: Hampshire

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many community orders were issued in  (a) Southampton,  (b) Test Valley Borough and  (c) the ceremonial county of Hampshire in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: Data on community sentences (including the community order and other community sentences) are available by police force area and the following table shows the number of community sentences issued in the Hampshire police force area 2002-06. Data for 2007 will be available later in the year. Community sentence data are not made available for smaller areas because detailed checks on sentencing data are not carried out at court level.
	
		
			  Number of persons sentenced to community sentences in Hampshire police force area, 2002-06 
			   Number 
			 2002 7,026 
			 2003 7,119 
			 2004 7,980 
			 2005 7,702 
			 2006 6,851 
			  Note: These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.  Source: OMS Analytical Services 24 October 2008 Ref: PQ(OMSAS)291-08

Coroners

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average duration of an inquest at a Coroner's Court in England is; and in which Coroners' Courts jurisdictions inquests lasted more than a year in the last 10 years.

Bridget Prentice: The latest available statistical information on the timeliness of inquests relates to the calendar year 2007. The estimated average time taken to complete inquests in 2007 by coroners in England was 25 weeks.
	Statistics on inquests lasting more than one year have been collected only since 2004. However, I can confirm that 9 per cent. of inquests concluded by coroners in England in 2007 took over a year. I can also confirm that all coroner jurisdictions except two (the Isles of Scilly and the Queen's Household, which both have only a very small number of inquests in a year) concluded at least one inquest in either 2006 or 2007 where the time taken was more than a year. These figures relate only to those inquests where the death occurred in England and Wales. Timeliness statistics are not collected by the Department for inquests where the death occurred elsewhere.
	There are a number of reasons why individual inquests can take considerably longer man the average time of 25 weeks. These include the need for coroners to await medical reports and the completion of investigations by other agencies such as the police, the Health and Safety Executive, and the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.

Cost Effectiveness

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what efficiency savings will be required from  (a) Prison Service workforce replanning,  (b) probation productivity via trust programmes,  (c) prisons legal advice and  (d) other identifiable areas or programmes under his Department's Financial Plan for the Comprehensive Spending Review for 2008 to 2011;
	(2)  what efficiency savings are expected to be found by prison productivity, broken down by specified programmes, under his Department's Financial Plan for the Comprehensive Spending Review for 2008 to 2011.

David Hanson: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) is on target to achieve cashable savings of 80 million in the current financial year. Budgets for 2009-10 and 2010-11 have not yet been agreed.
	NOMS will achieve 80 million savings in 2008-09 through a range of activities, including the introduction of standardised operating arrangements in closed male, establishments; clustering operations in neighbouring prisons; reducing staffing in area offices; and reductions in administration and IT costs. A number of major change programmes are under way to ensure that NOMS can operate within available resources for the rest of the spending period but budgets for 2009-10 and 2010-11 have not yet been agreed and it is not yet possible to quantify the savings that will be generated by specific activities.

Data Protection

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people have been disciplined or dismissed in  (a) his Department and its predecessor and  (b) the Prison Service for breaches of data protection or inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data in each of the last three years.

Michael Wills: Centrally held records in the former DCA show that three members of staff have been dismissed for inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data in the last three years, all in 2006. Information on other disciplinary sanctions is not held centrally in the format requested.
	Centrally held records in the public sector Prison Service show that members of staff have been disciplined and dismissed for inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data in the last three years. In some of these cases, the inappropriate use of data is actually included as part of a wide range of charges against the members of staff:
	April 2005 to March 2006nil.
	April 2006 to March 2007six members of staff were subject to formal disciplinary action and, of these, three were subsequently dismissed from service.
	April 2007 to March 2008one member of staff was subject to formal disciplinary action and was subsequently dismissed from service.
	Centrally held records in NOMS and OCJR show there have been no recorded cases of discipline or dismissal for breaches of data protection and inappropriate use of personal or sensitive data.

Departmental Lost Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what  (a) equipment and  (b) data were lost by his Department in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: The Ministry of Justice has recorded nine significant personal data related incidents for 2007-08, published in its resource accounts and laid before the House on 21 July 2008.
	There were five related equipment losses, comprising of four laptops and one electronic storage device.
	I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 25 June 2008, providing the final report on measures for data handling procedures in government.

Departmental Telephone Services

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what agencies or units for which his Department is responsible require the public to make telephone calls to them on numbers which charge more than the national call rate; and how much income each such agency has derived from such charges in each of the last three years.

Michael Wills: The Ministry of Justice's Central Recruitment Unit uses 0870 numbers for calls relating to recruitment campaigns. The Unit handles approximately 80,000 calls per year and the total revenue generated from these numbers, since they were introduced in February 2004, is 25,503.69.
	There is no central record held of the yearly breakdown. The maximum duration of a call is two minutes 59 seconds for which the caller pays a charge of 9p, in addition to the national rate. For shorter calls, the charge will be less. Calls to these numbers from mobile phones are charged at the rate determined by the phone carrier. The Ministry cannot control the charges made by mobile service providers.
	From next month the unit is switching to a new system for handling recruitment campaigns and it is anticipated that use of the 0870 numbers will cease.

Driving Offences

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were prosecuted for driving cars while  (a) banned from driving and  (b) uninsured in each police authority area in the UK in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: Available information for England and Wales, held by the Ministry of Justice for the offences of 'driving while disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence' and 'using motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks', from 1997 to 2006 (latest available) are provided in the following tables. The data cover all motor vehicles as defined by the Road Traffic Act. Data for 2007 should be available at the end of November 2008.
	Matters arising in Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Office respectively.
	
		
			  Table A: Proceedings at magistrates courts for the offence of driving while disqualified( 1) , by police force area, England and Wales, 1997 to 2006 
			  Number of offences 
			  Police force area  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Avon and Somerset 1,516 1,715 1,955 1,709 1,613 1,858 2,159 1,830 1,380 1,171 
			 Bedfordshire 528 544 548 475 563 635 757 666 605 594 
			 Cambridgeshire 530 518 535 479 454 475 730 625 548 533 
			 Cheshire 736 692 748 661 645 788 907 953 647 597 
			 Cleveland 720 690 689 748 796 848 1,091 1,014 863 631 
			 Cumbria 486 428 430 402 558 528 571 538 384 314 
			 Derbyshire 858 754 829 776 837 968 1,059 945 771 600 
			 Devon and Cornwall 860 896 940 948 954 1,036 1,224 1,033 867 627 
			 Dorset 546 507 478 510 508 488 655 545 412 277 
			 Durham 600 592 784 817 770 821 853 786 729 504 
			 Essex 841 821 944 944 1,082 1,159 1,220 1,139 1,132 973 
			 Gloucestershire 457 429 496 428 425 424 449 443 391 355 
			 Greater Manchester 3,273 3,256 3,391 3,474 3,676 4,000 4,093 3,688 3,155 2,577 
			 Hampshire 1,442 1,488 1,415 1,488 1,452 1,545 1,695 1,509 1,208 912 
			 Hertfordshire 551 501 557 542 580 604 751 783 803 701 
			 Humberside 748 818 895 888 783 888 1,195 1,127 993 771 
			 Kent 785 895 953 1,049 1,157 1,414 1,610 1,611 1,294 1,124 
			 Lancashire 1,552 1,670 1,681 1,553 1,460 1,827 2,222 1,665 1,541 1,285 
			 Leicestershire 1,281 1,305 1,429 1,448 1,536 1,550 1,667 1,596 1,272 738 
			 Lincolnshire 531 549 506 498 541 618 751 675 504 433 
			 London, City of 133 119 86 82 75 141 145 129 125 87 
			 Merseyside 1,636 1,423 1,437 1,409 1,533 1,609 2,129 2,260 1,979 1,396 
			 Metropolitan Police 5,590 5,000 4,567 4,281 4,734 5,440 6,261 6,660 6,357 6,112 
			 Norfolk 431 424 485 508 685 709 746 590 523 421 
			 Northamptonshire 676 802 783 681 431 324 631 741 538 402 
			 Northumbria 1,680 1,701 1,935 1,832 1,844 1,834 1,929 1,749 1,619 1,401 
			 North Yorkshire 554 523 494 506 499 456 574 548 520 374 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,511 1,451 1,572 1,429 1,535 1,533 2,075 1,875 1,457 1,134 
			 South Yorkshire 1,656 1,562 1,688 1,647 1,734 1,841 2,048 1,812 1,412 1,356 
			 Staffordshire(2) 1,054 1,004 1,086 1,030 1,015 1,209 1,331 1,195 1,141 856 
			 Suffolk 365 327 413 422 393 513 623 631 452 427 
			 Surrey 379 350 375 434 523 516 517 460 425 363 
			 Sussex 827 766 927 890 987 922 920 819 725 722 
			 Thames Valley 1,391 1,388 1,381 1,460 1,579 1,774 1,736 1,627 1,358 1,067 
			 Warwickshire 461 418 416 302 391 435 490 549 440 302 
			 West Mercia 816 820 865 882 858 945 978 983 902 739 
			 West Midlands 3,869 3,784 3,524 3,464 3,771 4,130 4,702 4,723 4,022 3,191 
			 West Yorkshire 3,080 2,905 3,126 3,225 3,129 3,241 3,571 3,176 2,551 1,943 
			 Wiltshire 304 424 440 396 488 535 530 456 451 363 
			 Dyfed-Powys 377 366 367 417 481 457 453 409 371 308 
			 Gwent 650 780 849 971 1,064 941 1,210 1,115 1,013 910 
			 North Wales 525 583 614 556 626 659 795 830 666 450 
			 South Wales 2,152 2,259 2,397 2,339 2,613 2,949 3,319 3,004 2,353 1,672 
			 England and Wales 48,958 48,247 50,030 49,000 51,378 55,587 63,372 59,512 50,899 41,713 
			 (1) Offences of aiding, abetting, causing or permitting offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s103(1). (2) It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences may be less than complete.  Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B: Proceedings at magistrates courts for the offence of using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks( 1) , by police force area, England and Wales, 1997 to 2006 
			  Number of offences 
			  Police force area  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003( 2)  2004  2005  2006 
			 Avon and Somerset 15,354 16,892 15,098 14,609 13,022 15,124 17,163 17,489 14,625 11,834 
			 Bedfordshire 4,724 4,449 3,479 3,594 4,651 4,731 5,041 4,534 4,776 4,356 
			 Cambridgeshire 3,440 3,425 3,058 2,929 2,508 2,875 3,301 3,120 3,371 4,107 
			 Cheshire 4,838 4,961 5,463 5,729 4,975 5,765 6,385 6,515 4,592 4,463 
			 Cleveland 3,925 4,204 4,331 4,793 4,789 5,994 5,575 6,597 4,611 4,013 
			 Cumbria 4,223 3,787 3,597 3,507 3,595 3,540 3,488 3,446 2,855 2,654 
			 Derbyshire 5,565 5,137 5,120 5,318 5,429 5,614 5,793 6,326 5,869 4,352 
			 Devon and Cornwall 8,422 7,232 7,493 9,234 8,648 9,598 9,676 8,943 7,404 7,500 
			 Dorset 5,271 4,198 4,776 6,035 5,262 6,176 7,034 6,075 5,752 5,177 
			 Durham 3,992 4,261 5,899 5,470 5,394 5,840 5,802 5,300 4,454 3,285 
			 Essex 7,161 7,025 7,336 7,898 7,708 7,811 7,489 7,132 7,035 6,507 
			 Gloucestershire 3,577 4,465 4,443 4,174 4,683 4,417 4,412 3,695 3,500 2,838 
			 Greater Manchester 30,655 30,836 33,228 33,783 37,088 36,337 38,208 34,942 30,280 26,516 
			 Hampshire 11,768 11,557 11,553 10,559 10,349 10,912 10,619 9,750 7,882 6,529 
			 Hertfordshire 4,580 5,799 4,748 5,258 5,816 6,612 7,216 7,463 7,763 7,641 
			 Humberside 4,408 4,279 4,894 5,024 4,730 4,464 5,509 5,170 4,840 5,085 
			 Kent 6,935 6,958 6,151 9,033 9,592 10,059 9,788 10,673 8,535 8,154 
			 Lancashire 20,334 18,794 18,111 18,354 16,280 17,555 21,229 16,065 17,960 15,246 
			 Leicestershire 9,706 9,481 11,054 10,263 10,475 10,699 11,304 10,833 7,306 5,912 
			 Lincolnshire 4,589 5,000 5,345 4,500 4,083 4,242 5,883 6,621 5,644 5,242 
			 London, City of 2,671 3,127 2,521 1,738 1,826 2,353 2,563 2,812 1,499 1,575 
			 Merseyside 10,896 9,747 8,932 10,054 9,467 10,360 12,776 13,023 10,728 7,807 
			 Metropolitan Police 42,283 35,064 31,285 29,649 32,032 36,485 43,100 47,806 47,223 46,132 
			 Norfolk 3,932 3,434 3,468 3,951 4,744 5,563 6,322 5,084 4,442 4,054 
			 Northamptonshire 4,999 4,849 5,571 3,949 2,028 1,211 4,157 5,804 4,441 3,859 
			 Northumbria 12,470 11,837 13,296 13,195 12,504 12,309 12,951 11,685 11,728 10,347 
			 North Yorkshire 3,926 3,744 4,003 3,905 3,545 3,340 3,774 4,065 3,865 3,270 
			 Nottinghamshire 8,078 8,726 7,957 7,748 7,856 7,460 9,224 9,224 7,358 5,994 
			 South Yorkshire 11,228 11,553 11,763 12,690 14,623 13,859 13,745 11,416 11,246 10,307 
			 Staffordshire 8,180 8,210 8,021 8,777 6,027 7,056 7,214 7,439 7,224 6,328 
			 Suffolk 3,258 3,743 4,189 3,923 4,123 4,759 5,808 5,718 4,279 3,799 
			 Surrey 4,942 3,908 4,436 4,941 5,101 5,554 4,657 3,927 4,491 4,173 
			 Sussex 9,333 8,202 7,415 6,796 6,814 6,413 5,808 4,371 4,569 5,074 
			 Thames Valley 11,887 11,948 13,543 12,816 11,728 12,842 14,516 12,920 11,255 10,329 
			 Warwickshire 4,316 3,769 3,523 4,135 4,204 3,711 3,756 4,160 3,469 3,512 
			 West Mercia 7,082 8,207 7,450 7,686 7,787 7,849 7,735 7,249 7,144 7,042 
			 West Midlands 29,878 30,928 27,409 28,148 27,010 32,339 36,409 39,696 34,786 29,998 
			 West Yorkshire 23,980 23,549 25,776 26,529 27,618 24,873 26,966 32,404 26,667 21,641 
			 Wiltshire 3,463 4,820 4,708 4,901 5,292 5,326 4,794 4,641 4,599 4,466 
			 Dyfed-Powys 3,079 2,852 3,017 3,072 2,953 3,316 3,094 2,244 2,639 2,413 
			 Gwent 4,097 4,478 4,451 4,680 4,758 4,508 4,083 3,474 3,241 3,088 
			 North Wales 4,859 4,452 4,102 3,697 3,376 4,048 5,968 6,022 4,211 5,057 
			 South Wales 14,829 16,187 15,406 14,615 13,805 16,499 16,932 15,946 12,605 11,805 
			 England and Wales 397,133 390,074 387,419 391,659 388,298 410,398 447,267 441,819 392,763 353,481 
			 (1) An offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988 s143(2). (2) As from 1 June 2003, 'driving a motor vehicle while uninsured against third party risks' became a fixed penalty offence.  Notes: 1. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences may be less than complete. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Driving Offences: Mobile Phones

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prosecutions have been brought for offences related to the use of a mobile telephone whilst driving in each police force area in the latest year for which figures are available.

Maria Eagle: Available information on prosecutions in 2006 (latest available) taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by my Department, is provided in the table. Data for 2007 should be available at the end of November this year.
	The majority of use of hand held mobile phone while driving offences are dealt with under the fixed penalty notices scheme. The table does not include fixed penalty notices but does include cases where fixed penalty notices were issued but not paid and subsequently referred to court.
	
		
			  Proceedings at magistrates courts for the offence of use of hand held mobile phone while driving( 1,2)  by police force area, England and Wales, 2006 
			  Police force area  Total court proceedings( 2) 
			 Avon and Somerset 54 
			 Bedfordshire 76 
			 Cambridgeshire 52 
			 Cheshire 36 
			 Cleveland 20 
			 Cumbria 57 
			 Derbyshire 35 
			 Devon and Cornwall 52 
			 Dorset 4 
			 Durham 16 
			 Essex 71 
			 Gloucestershire 10 
			 Greater Manchester 183 
			 Hampshire 69 
			 Hertfordshire 65 
			 Humberside 45 
			 Kent (3) 
			 Lancashire 62 
			 Leicestershire 26 
			 Lincolnshire 30 
			 London, City of 24 
			 Merseyside 46 
			 Metropolitan Police 685 
			 Norfolk 31 
			 Northamptonshire (3) 
			 Northumbria 98 
			 North Yorkshire 34 
			 Nottinghamshire 17 
			 South Yorkshire 43 
			 Staffordshire 19 
			 Suffolk 21 
			 Surrey 92 
			 Sussex (3) 
			 Thames Valley 211 
			 Warwickshire 20 
			 West Mercia 88 
			 West Midlands 121 
			 West Yorkshire 52 
			 Wiltshire 38 
			 Dyfed Powys 15 
			 Gwent 6 
			 North Wales 30 
			 South Wales 28 
			   
			 England and Wales 2,682 
			 (1) Offences under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, Regulations 110 (1), 110 (2) and 110 (3). (2) May include cases where fixed penalty was originally issued but not paid and subsequently referred to court. (3) Nil.  Note: It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete.

Electoral Commission: Powers of Entry

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what powers of entry the Electoral Commission has; what powers it has to enter the homes of  (a) election agents and  (b) candidates in elections; and in what way powers of entry regarding these groups will change if the provisions of the Political Parties and Elections Bill are enacted.

Michael Wills: The Commission has powers under section 146 (3) of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 to enter premises and take copies of information relating to income and expenditure from a registered political party, a recognised third party and a permitted participant in a referendum. This power can be exercised by the Commission for the purposes of carrying out its functions. At present, the power to enter premises does not apply to election agents or candidates in elections (except candidates at a local election in Scotland). However, the Commission does currently have powers under section 146(1) to require the disclosure of documents relating to income and expenditure from election agents or candidates. It is a criminal offence under section 146(5) to fail to comply with such a requirement.
	The Bill repeats the existing power to enter in clause 1(5) of Schedule 19A (to be inserted into the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 by Schedule 1 to the Bill). It also extends it to candidates (other candidates in Scottish local government elections), election agents, regulated donees (including MPs) and regulated participants. The result is that the original PPERA power for the Commission to enter premises for the purposes of carrying out its functions will now apply to election agents and candidates, alongside the other individuals and organisations listed in paragraph 1(1) in Schedule 19A.
	In addition, the Political Parties and Elections Bill seeks to provide new powers for use by the Commission when it undertakes an investigation into a suspected breach of PPERA. To this end the Bill provides the Commission with new powers to request information, to put questions and to apply for a warrant to enable it to enter premises when carrying out an investigation into a suspected offence or other contravention of the 2000 Act. These powers are capable of applying to election agents and candidates who have such information in the same way that they may apply to anyone else. However, we have also introduced a number of important safeguards for the use of these new powers. In relation to entry of premises under this new power, the Commission will need to apply for a warrant under paragraph 3 of Schedule 19A. There is no automatic right of entry. For a warrant to be issued, the Commission must demonstrate on oath to a justice of the peace that it have reasonable grounds for believing that an offence has been committed (or other contravention of PPERA has occurred). They must also establish that documents are on the premises that were withheld following an earlier request or that are otherwise relevant to the investigation. When entering the premises, they must be accompanied at all times by a constable.
	As I made clear in the Second Reading debate on the Bill, we have heard the force of opinion in the House on the issue of the Commission's powers and will consider what can be done to address it.

Judicial Pension Fund

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many judges will have received payments from the Judicial Pension Fund in 2008 by the end of the year.

Jack Straw: Data on the number of members of the judicial pension scheme, including pensioners, are available in the published resource accounts. The figures published for 2006-07 show that there were 918 judicial pensioners. Copies of the accounts are held in the House of Commons Library.

National Offender Management Service: Per Capita Costs

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the estimated cost of each Director of Offender Management in the National Offender Management Service for 2009-10 is.

Shahid Malik: Following pilots in London and Wales, plans are now in place to appoint Directors of Offender Management (DOMs) who will be responsible for the delivery of prison and probation services in all the English regions and in Wales.
	The posts will be at director level (senior civil servant pay band two) and all 10 DOM posts are expected to be filled by April 2009.
	The pay scale for a senior civil servant (pay band 2) director starts at 81,600 up to a ceiling of 160,000 per annum.

National Offender Management Service: Per Capita Costs

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost has been of each regional offender manager in the National Offender Management Service since their inception in 2004.

Shahid Malik: The following table shows the resource expenditure recorded against each regional offender manager (in Wales, director of offender management) for 2005-06 to 2007-08. For 2004-05, figures are not separately identifiable. The costs include the regional offender managers, their immediate staff and non-pay costs. Accommodation costs are met centrally and not included. In 2006-07 some other programme costs (e.g. grants to service providers and private prison controllers) may be included and are not separately identifiable. Costs related to private sector prisons' controllers are not included in figures for 2005-06 and 2007-08.
	
		
			  Resource expenditure recorded against each  r egional  o ffender  m anager (in Wales,  d irector of  o ffender  m anagement) for 2005-06 to 2007-08 
			   
			  Regional offender m anagers/ d irectors of  o ffender  m anagement  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 ROM North East 511,569 580,889 833,842 
			 ROM North West 521,428 1,486,540 1,344,590 
			 ROM Yorkshire and Humberside 461,711 1,405,300 792,241 
			 ROM East Midlands 517,534 1,082,614 925,111 
			 ROM West Midlands 484,690 1,135,070 933,041 
			 ROM East of England 462,669 950,336 845,960 
			 DOM Wales 475,853 691,959 1,087,512 
			 ROM London 531,079 551,002 910,946 
			 ROM South East 757,449 1,066,078 1,030,384 
			 ROM South West 686,966 1,115,545 1,066,824 
			 Total 5,410,948 10,065,333 9,770,449

Offenders: Deportation

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many foreign national prisoners were being held in prisons awaiting deportation after their due release date on 1 October 2008.

David Hanson: No information is held centrally for 1 October as information is gathered weekly from prisons every Monday.
	However, on 29 September 2008, 467 time served foreign national prisoners were being held in prison custody, and on 6 October, 436 were being held. These prisoners were being considered for either deportation or removal from the UK.

Offenders: Greater London

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of persistent offenders there were in  (a) the London borough of Hillingdon and  (b) Uxbridge constituency in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: There are two statistical counts of persistent offenders used in the criminal justice system.
	The first count is of persistent young offenders (PYOs). A PYO is a young person aged 10 to 17 who has been sentenced guilty of recordable offences on three or more separate occasions, and within three years of the last of these is arrested by the police for a further recordable offence.
	During the three month period from April to June 2008, there were 7,389 criminal court cases across England and Wales in which PYOs were found guilty and sentenced. In the London metropolitan area there were 804 such cases. Of these, 17 were in the borough of Hillingdon. Counts of cases against offenders are not collected at any level lower than this borough.
	Further information on PYOs can be found on the Ministry of Justice website:
	www.justice.gov.uk/publications/averagetime arresttosentencepyo.htm
	The second is for prolific and other priority offenders (PPOs). The PPO programme tackles a small hard-core of offenders (not confined to any age group) who commit a disproportionate amount of crime, and cause disproportionate damage to their communities. It is a crime reduction programme with a reducing re-offending focus.
	Data from the PPO scheme performance framework indicated that at the end of March 2008 there were a total of 11,296 PPOs being managed in England and Wales. In London, there were 1,172 of these offenders being managed, of whom 23 were in Hillingdon. Counts of offenders being managed are not available at lower level than this borough.
	Additional information on PPOs is available on the Home Office Crime Reduction web-pages:
	www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk

Political Parties: Finance

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to his comments before the Justice Committee on 7 October 2008, HC 1076-i, Question 67, what plans he has to reassess the appropriateness of commencing the new trigger rules at Royal Assent before the Electoral Commission guidance is published.

Michael Wills: Clause 19(4) of the Political Parties and Elections Bill (Bill 141) provides that clause 10 of that Bill will come into force on the date on which the Bill receives Royal Assent. However, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (Mr. Straw) indicated before the Justice Committee on 7 October, we are ready to look at the issue.

Political Parties: Finance

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether parliamentary candidates who have  (a) announced and  (b) promoted their candidature prior to Royal Assent to the Political Parties and Election Bill will on Royal Assent be deemed to have automatically announced their candidature for the purposes of the new trigger rules.

Michael Wills: The effect of clause 10 of the Political Parties and Elections Bill (Bill 141) will be that the key consideration in determining whether or not the candidate expenditure limit applies will be the purpose for which expenditure is used. Whether or not a person has formally announced or promoted their candidature will not be the crucial factor, as the clause provides that election expenses can include those incurred by a person who later formally becomes a candidate.

Political Parties: Finance

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the impact assessment for the Political Parties and Elections Bill, what the evidential basis was for the calculation that between 2,000 and 3,000 donations each year would be regulated.

Michael Wills: The figures in the impact assessment for the numbers of donations potentially affected by the additional declaration requirements in clause 8 of the Political Parties and Elections Bill are estimates, as there is no publicly available data on the number of donations accepted by political parties of amounts between 200 and the thresholds above which the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 requires that donations be reported to the Electoral Commission and publicly disclosed. The estimates were arrived at through extrapolating from the publicly available data on donations of over 5,000 to parties' central offices and 1,000 to local accounting units. These estimates were intended to represent an average yearly figure, taking into account the fact that levels of donations increase considerably towards the end of an electoral cycle.
	The Government accept that a number of political parties have concerns that the impact assessment underestimates the compliance burden that the requirements of clause 8 might impose on political parties. As I indicated at Second Reading of the Political Parties and Elections Bill, representations have been received from a number of parties that the 200 limit is too low, and we have also received wider representations about the impact of clause 8 on those charged with complying with the law. Although I am clear that greater transparency is essential, it should not be achieved at the cost of overburdening political parties and I am ready to consider representations on the detail of our proposals in that area.

Prison Service: Disabled

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  if he will publish HM Prison Service's last  (a) three-year review and  (b) three annual reviews of its disability equality scheme;
	(2)  what measures he has put into place to ensure that prison service staff receive independent advice on disability issues following the disapplication of the Home Office Disability Support Network to prison service staff;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the merits of introducing a support network for prison service staff with disabilities; and what account that assessment took of  (a) the Code of Practice for the Public Sector to promote disability equality and  (b) other requirements under disability equality legislation;
	(4)  what support networks are in place for  (a) black and minority ethnic,  (b) lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and  (c) other groups of prison service staff; and what plans he has to introduce a support network for prison service staff with disabilities.

Shahid Malik: HM Prison Service's Associate Disability Equality Scheme was published in December 2006. The employment duties of the Disability Equality Scheme were encompassed in HM Prison Service's Single Staff Diversity Scheme which was published in April 2007. Copies of both documents will be placed in the Library of the House. I will write to the hon. and learned Member about the review process attached to these schemes.
	The Ministry of Justice has a support network for staff with disabilities which all staff within the Ministry, including Prison Service staff, can join as associate members.
	The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) commissioned an independent review of staff support networks for Prison Service staff in April 2008. That review considered options for staff networks that would be in alignment with the business of the agency and this included options for a network for Prison Service staff with disabilities. The agency is currently considering the findings and recommendations of that review.
	The review has taken into account the reference in the code of practice for the public sector to public authorities considering having disabled staff network groups as well as ensuring that the agency is compliant with disability equality legislation.
	NOMS currently provides an official support network for black and minority ethnic Prison Service staff and an official support network for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Prison Service staff. Prison Service staff who have disabilities are currently able to be supported by the Ministry of Justice's support network for staff with disabilities. NOMS is currently considering whether and in what form to establish a separate official network for Prison Service staff with disabilities following an independent review of its staff networks.

Prison Service: Disabled

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of prison staff have disabilities.

Shahid Malik: On 30 September 2008, 1,701 prison staff in the public and private sectors have declared themselves as having a disability. This represents 3 per cent. of all prison staff.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) prisoner on prisoner,  (b) prisoner on staff and  (c) staff on prisoner (i) rapes and (ii) sexual assaults were reported in (A) male and (B) female prisons in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years.

David Hanson: The Government are committed to ensuring that violence in prisons is not tolerated in any form. Since 2004, a national strategy has directed every public sector prison to have in place a local violence reduction strategy and from mid 2007 this has been applied to both the public sector and contracted estate. A whole prison approach is encouraged, engaging all staff, all disciplines and prisoners in challenging unacceptable behaviour, problem-solving and personal safety. The Prison Officers Association are partners in its approach.
	 (i) Reports of rape in England and Wales
	Rape is a legal term dependent on conviction and this information is not held centrally by NOMS.
	 (ii) Reports of sexual  assaults in prisons in England and Wales
	The data are contained in the following tables. Due to improved recording over the years, figures from 1998 to 2001 are not directly comparable with those from more recent years. The numbers supplied refer to the number of individual assault incidents. At any one time the system will include some proven and unproven allegations; some of the latter are removed/reclassified at a later date. Assault information is recorded at establishment level in four categories: Prisoner on Prisoner, Prisoner on Officer, Prisoner on Other and Other (which may include non-prisoner perpetrators). The 'Prisoner on Officer' and 'Prisoner on Other' categories mostly refer to assaults on staff. However 'the latter category may include some non staff victims for example visitors. The 'Other' category includes assaults or allegations of assault by non prisoners including any by staff, visitors etc.
	
		
			  Male Prisons 
			  Sexual Assaults Male Prisons  Prisoner on prisoner  Prisoner on officer  Prisoner on other  Other  Total 
			 1998 38 9  2 49 
			 1999 55 5 2  62 
			 2000 64 6 6 6 82 
			 2001 56 6 9 5 76 
			 2002 94 7 4 5 110 
			 2003 74 12 7 3 96 
			 2004 77 16 6 6 105 
			 2005 74 15 6 15 110 
			 2006 77 18 7 18 120 
			 2007 72 13 9 5 99 
			  Note:  From 2007 figures do not include the three prisons (Albany, Camphill and Parkhurst) where the incident recording has transferred to the NOMIS system. 
		
	
	
		
			  Female Prisons 
			  Sexual Assaults Female Prisons  Prisoner on prisoner  Prisoner on officer  Prisoner on other  Other  Total 
			 1998 3   1 4 
			 1999 7 5  1 13 
			 2000 13 2  1 16 
			 2001 2 1  1 4 
			 2002 7 1 2  10 
			 2003 13 2 1 2 18 
			 2004 1818 
			 2005 9   1 10 
			 2006 5 3   8 
			 2007 12 3   15

Prisons: Security

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 17 June 2008,  Official Report, columns 885-6W, on departmental security, how many identity cards and security passes were reported lost or stolen at  (a) HMP Pentonville,  (b) HMP Holloway and  (c) Young Offender Institution Holloway in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: It is extremely rare for passes to be lost. When a pass is lost/stolen, the member of staff concerned completes a report detailing the circumstances. That is reported to the security department, the gatekeeper and NOMS Security Group, and cascaded to all prisons. Procedures ensure that only those with permission to do so enter prisons.
	The table shows the number of reported lost or stolen NOMS identity cards/security passes in each of the last three financial years broken down by  (a) prison and  (b) year at Pentonville and Holloway(1) prisons.
	These figures do not include passes issued to temporary or contracted (permanent and temporary) members of staff. Information on these groups of staff is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost as it would involve analysing all security information reports from these prisons over the last three financial years.
	(1) HMP Holloway and YOI Holloway are recorded as one establishment.
	
		
			  Lost or stolen security passes in each of the last three financial years at Pentonville and Holloway prisons 
			   Establishment name 
			   HMP/YOI Holloway( 1)  HMP Pentonville 
			 2005-06 7 0 
			 2006-07 6 0 
			 2007-08 1 0 
			 (1) HMP Holloway and YOI Holloway are recorded as one establishment.

Sentencing: Young People

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) 16 to 18 year olds and  (b) 18 to 21 year olds are currently serving custodial sentences; and what is the average length of sentence for each group.

David Hanson: At the end of the August 2008 there were, 1,618 16 to 17-year-olds and 7,522 young adults serving custodial sentences in prison establishments in England and Wales.
	The average length of sentence for:
	 (a) 16 to 17-year-olds serving a determinate sentence was 19 months;
	 (b) Young adults(1) serving a determinate sentence was 31 months.
	The average lengths given here are longer than those for all sentenced offenders received into prison establishments. This is because the population of offenders in prison at any given time includes a larger proportion of those serving longer sentences.
	The figures do not include juveniles held in secure training centres or secure children's homes
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	(1) Young adults are those aged 18 to 20 and those 21-year-olds who were aged 20 or under at conviction who have not been reclassified as part of the adult population.

Young Offender Institutions: Drugs

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what percentage of offenders in young offender institutions are dependent on at least one type of drug.

David Hanson: Data on the number of prisoners in young offender institutions who are drug dependent are not recorded. Instead the National Offender Management Service relies on epidemiological research which has previously shown 76 per cent. of young male offenders aged 18-21 assessed (within a young offender institution) as being dependent on at least one drug.

Young Offender Institutions: Per Capita Costs

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average cost was of providing a place in a young offenders institution in the latest year for which figures are available.

David Hanson: The average cost per annum of a place at a young offender institution for 2001-08 was 32,799. This will include the provision of juvenile places at sites where both young offenders and juveniles are detained, as we are unable except at disproportionate cost to split these costs. The costs include only direct prison costs and exclude overhead costs.

Young Offenders: Sentencing

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average length of sentence was for young offenders aged  (a) 10 to 15,  (b) 16 to 17 and  (c) 18 to 20 years for offences (i) involving violence against a person, (ii) of a sexual nature, (iii) of burglary, (iv) of robbery and (v) involving drugs where a custodial sentence was handed down in each year since 1997.

David Hanson: The requested information is contained in the following table. The figures are a further breakdown of statistics found in Table 2.17 of the Ministry of Justice statistical bulletin, 'Sentencing Statistics 2006'. The 2007 data will be published at the end of November.
	
		
			  Average length of immediate custodial sentence( 1)  for various age groups for various offence groups, all courts, England and Wales, 1997 to 2006 
			  Average length of sentence (months) 
			   Age group 
			  Offence group  Year  10-16  16-17  18-20 
			 Violence against the person 1997 15.0 12.0 15.4 
			 Sexual offences  37.7 41.3 37.8 
			 Burglary  9.5 9.6 13.7 
			 Robbery  22.4 21.7 32.4 
			 Drug offences  17.0 13.8 19.7 
			  
			 Violence against the person 1998 9.8 11.4 14.3 
			 Sexual offences  23.5 32.5 35.8 
			 Burglary  8.7 9.9 13.3 
			 Robbery  16.8 19.7 31.0 
			 Drug offences  13.7 13.6 17.4 
			  
			 Violence against the person 1999 11.1 10.9 14.3 
			 Sexual offences  23.8 33.8 29.3 
			 Burglary  9.4 9.4 13.6 
			 Robbery  15.9 20.1 31.8 
			 Drug offences  17.8 14.1 18.2 
			  
			 Violence against the person 2000 9.6 12.4 14.3 
			 Sexual offences  24.7 26.4 37.7 
			 Burglary  8.7 10.0 13.5 
			 Robbery  13.9 20.5 32.1 
			 Drug offences  10.3 16.6 20.4 
			  
			 Violence against the person 2001 9.8 12.2 16.0 
			 Sexual offences  22.7 28.5 32.7 
			 Burglary  7.9 9.9 13.9 
			 Robbery  13.5 18.2 32.5 
			 Drug offences  7.7 14.4 20.5 
			  
			 Violence against the person 2002 10.6 14.5 16.7 
			 Sexual offences  22.8 22.4 30.2 
			 Burglary  9.3 11.4 14.8 
			 Robbery  16.6 21.7 34.6 
			 Drug offences  14.5 14.6 24.3 
			  
			 Violence against the person 2003 11.5 13.9 17.8 
			 Sexual offences  28.4 27.5 31.8 
			 Burglary  8.4 9.9 14.6 
			 Robbery  14.5 20.6 34.3 
			 Drug offences  10.6 19.1 25.4 
			  
			 Violence against the person 2004 12.8 14.7 17.6 
			 Sexual offences  20.6 29.4 27.6 
			 Burglary  8.6 10.6 15.7 
			 Robbery  14.5 20.7 34.2 
			 Drug offences  11.6 17.9 27.0 
			  
			 Violence against the person 2005 10.7 13.8 17.4 
			 Sexual offences  25.0 31.5 34.4 
			 Burglary  8.1 9.9 13.9 
			 Robbery  12.9 18.6 31.4 
			 Drug offences  9.4 15.8 26.5 
			  
			  
			 Violence against the person 2006 10.4 13.5 16.3 
			 Sexual offences  28.1 30.8 36.5 
			 Burglary  7.4 9.2 13.9 
			 Robbery  12.6 18.6 31.5 
			 Drug offences  12.3 14.3 24.7 
			 (1) Excludes life and indeterminate sentences.  Notes: 1. These data are on the principal offence basis. 2. Offenders receiving an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection for a serious offence would previously have received a lengthy determinate sentence that would have been included in the calculation of average custodial sentence length. These longer sentences are now effectively excluded since the calculation. This may account for the observed decrease in average custodial sentence lengths since 2004-05. 3. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.  Source: OMS Analytical Services

Young People: Custodial Treatment

David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he plans to take to ensure that expectation 19 of the HM Inspectorate of Prisons criteria for assessing the conditions for and treatment of children and young people in custody, on the arrival of children and young people at an institution no later than 7pm, is met in practice; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: The policy of the National Offender Management Service and the Youth Justice Boards is that young people are escorted from court to their designated prison as soon as possible and before any closure time listed for the prison.

BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM

Applying the Proposed Strategic Siting Assessment Criteria

Dai Davies: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform for what reasons 22 July 2008 was chosen as the publication date for his Department's consultation paper towards a nuclear national policy statement, Applying the Proposed Strategic Siting Assessment Criteria: A Study of the Potential Environmental and Sustainability Effects.

Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
	The consultation document Towards a nuclear national policy statement, Applying the Proposed Strategic Siting Assessment Criteria: A Study of the Potential Environmental and Sustainability Effects was published on 22 July 2008 because it was the first possible date for publication after the document had been completed. The House was notified of the publication via a written ministerial statement and in addition the Department for BERR issued a press release. The consultation has been extended from 12 to 16 weeks to take account of the fact it overlaps with the summer period and to provide consultees with the maximum opportunity to input their views. The Department for BERR also held three stakeholder engagement events in September to assist people in making an input into the consultation.

Consumer Focus: Finance

David Taylor: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the budget is for Consumer Focus in each of the next three financial years.

Gareth Thomas: Ministers have agreed a budget of 15 million for Consumer Focus in the financial year 2009-10 plus an additional 2.2 million for legacy bodies' property costs. In subsequent years, Consumer Focus's final budget allocation will be confirmed as part of the Department's annual business planning round.

Departmental Pensions

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many and what proportion of civil servants in his Department and its agencies are members of the  (a) Classic,  (b) Classic Plus,  (c) Nuvos and  (d) Premium civil service pension schemes.

Patrick McFadden: The number and proportion of civil servants in civil service pension schemes in BERR and its agencies is:
	
		
			   Number  Proportion (percentage) 
			  (a) classic 4,662 64 
			  (b) classic plus 279 4 
			  (c) nuvos 356 5 
			  (d) premium 1,879 26

Departmental Trade Unions

Mark Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many civil servants in his Department were seconded to work for  (a) trades unions and  (b) the Trades Union Congress in each year since its inception.

Patrick McFadden: Since the inception of the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in 2007, there have been no civil servants seconded to work for the trade unions or Trades Union Congress.

Dorneywood

James Duddridge: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 19 June 2008,  Official Report, column 1187W, on Dorneywood: official hospitality, what use his Department has made of Dorneywood for official engagements in the last 12 months.

Gareth Thomas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office on 20 October 2008,  Official Report , column 90W.

Energy: Coatbridge

Tom Clarke: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many households in Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill constituency use a pre-payment meter; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
	The lowest geographical level at which the Department holds the requested data for gas is national level, and for electricity separately for North and South Scotland. As of June 2008, there were around 177,000 households using a gas prepayment meter in Scotland, around 10 per cent. of all customer accounts.
	For electricity, as of June 2008, there were around 107,000 households using a prepayment meter in north Scotland, around 17 per cent. of all customer accounts. For south Scotland, the corresponding figure was 328,000, or 18 per cent. of all households.

Enterprise Capital Funds

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps have been taken to encourage bids from the creative industries for Enterprise Capital Funds.

Ian Pearson: Creative industries are an important sector of the UK economy. Earlier this year Government made a public statement that they welcome applications to Enterprise Capital Funds from all sectors, including creative businesses, in the creative economy strategy 'Creative BritainNew Talents for the New Economy'. Capital for Enterprise Limitedour arms length body responsible for the delivery of the Enterprise Capital Fundsannounced the subsequent bidding round to a wide field of potential applicants. Capital for Enterprise Limited have offered to meet with all potential bidders to help explain the process and provide feedback. The Enterprise Capital Fund programme provides risk capital of up to 2 million for small high growth businesses from a range of sectors including the creative industries.

Fireworks Act 2003

David Crausby: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of regulations made under the Fireworks Act 2003; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: The regulations made under the Fireworks Act 2003 will be reviewed during the course of implementation of the pyrotechnics directive, the work for which will commence shortly.

Fireworks: Accidents

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what information his Department gathers on the number of accidents caused by fireworks operated by the public.

Gareth Thomas: BERR collects no statistics on home injuries, including those caused by fireworks.

Formula One

Adam Price: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what  (a) briefing and  (b) minutes the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry received from (i) 10 Downing Street and (ii) Ministerial colleagues in relation to the business interests of Formula One and its associated companies in November 1997.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 21 October 2008
	Having conducted a search of records relating to automotive issues, BERR has not been able to locate any files on motorsport dating back to November 1997.
	However, we are aware of one document released following a freedom of information request which has been published on the Department of Health websitea minute from DTI dated 18 November 1997 about the importance of Formula One to the UK.
	http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/FreedomOfInformation/Freedom ofinformationpublicationschemefeedback/FOIreleases/DH_089217 (Document 39)

Fuel Poverty

Danny Alexander: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much his Department spent tackling fuel poverty in each of the last 10 years; and how much it expects to spend in the next 12 months.

Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
	Before the establishment of the Department for Energy and Climate Change, Government responsibility for funding fuel poverty programmes rested with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, not the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). However, between 2005-06 and 2007-08, BERR contributed 2 million to two demonstration programmes in north-east England and Yorkshire and Humberside to provide microgeneration and mains gas to deprived communities. In June 2008, BERR announced a further 3 million fuel poverty pilot within the Low Carbon Buildings Programme. BERR has also made available 150,000 to Citizens Advice to deliver the 'Energy Best Deal' project, which will promote switching of supplier among vulnerable groups. These funding streams are moving to the new Department for Energy and Climate Change.

Nuclear Power Stations: Decommissioning

David Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he anticipates that decommissioning work at Trawsfynydd nuclear power station will be complete.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 6 October 2008
	 I have been asked to reply.
	The NDA Strategy, published in March 2006, anticipates that the decommissioning and final site clearance of Trawsfynydd will be completed in 2096.

Post Offices: Closures

Michael Penning: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many post offices and sub-post offices were closed in Hemel Hempstead constituency in the periods between  (a) 1987 and 1996 and  (b) 1997 and 2008.

Patrick McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, managing director of POL, to reply directly to the hon. Member.
	Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Post Offices: Franchises

Justine Greening: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform by what criteria the  (a) franchise fee charged by Post Office Ltd to its franchisees and  (b) annual fee charged by Post Office Ltd to locally funded post offices is set; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: These are operational matters for Post Office Ltd. (POL). I have, therefore, asked Alan Cook, managing director of POL to reply directly to the hon. Member.
	Copies of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Power Stations: Plymouth

Gary Streeter: To ask the Minster of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what progress has been made in establishing an energy park at Langage, Devon, pursuant to the licence granted to the former Department of Trade and Industry to build a power station on the site.

Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
	Planning permission from the local planning authority for the first 10,000 sq m of office development has been granted. As the hon. Member is aware, the energy park development program is closely tied to that of the power station. The Department has been informed that the access road for the power station, which is required before construction of the energy park development can proceed, is still not complete and is now targeted for late summer 2009.

Renewable Energy

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent steps the Government have taken to increase the use of sustainable energy.

Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government have taken a range of steps to increase the use of renewable and low carbon energy in the UK. We have recently consulted on potential measures on how the UK could increase its use of renewable energy to meet its share of the 2020 EU renewable energy target; and published the Transmission Access Review, setting out measures to allow faster connection of renewable generation to the electricity grid and the timely delivery of new infrastructure necessary to meet that target.
	We also plan to consult in the autumn on an energy savings and heat strategy which will focus on low-carbon solutions to decarbonise the UK's heat supply.
	The UK needs a diverse mix of low-carbon energy sources to contribute to our energy and climate change goals and we have this year taken the decision to allow companies to build and operate new nuclear power stations. Facilitative actions being taken should enable companies to bring new nuclear power stations into operation from 2017-20.
	We are taking a global lead on clean coal power generation by launching a competition to secure one of the world's first commercial-scale carbon capture and storage demonstration projects on a coal-fired power station; and we continue to support energy efficiency and low carbon technologies from R and D to deployment.

Renewable Energy

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps the Government plan to take to facilitate the development and use of sustainable energy.

Mike O'Brien: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government are fully committed to facilitating the development and use of sustainable and low carbon energy. The Government published a consultation document in June setting out a range of potential measures to deliver further increases in renewable energy to meet our ambitions for 2020 and beyond. In the light of consultation responses, we will set out our full renewable energy strategy in spring next year. We also plan to consult in the autumn on an energy savings and heat strategy which will focus on energy saving measures, particularly in the household sector, and low-carbon solutions to decarbonise the UK's heat supply.
	The Government provide support for renewable electricity through the renewables obligation which is estimated to be worth around a billion pounds a year to the renewables sector by 2010; we will continue to support and promote energy efficiency and innovation in low carbon technologies from R and D to deployment.

Rural Areas

James Paice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in respect of which of his Department's public service agreements rural proofing of departmental policies is stipulated.

Patrick McFadden: BERR leads on three cross-Government public service agreements (PSAs)PSA 1 (Raise the productivity of the UK economy); PSA 6 (Deliver the conditions for business success in the UK); and PSA 7 (Improve the economic performance of all English regions and reduce the gap in economic growth rates between regions). BERR has signed up as a key delivery partner for the following PSAs: PSA 2 (Improve the skills of the population, on the way to ensuring a world-class skills base by 2020); PSA 8 (Maximise employment opportunity for all); and PSA 27 (Lead the global effort to avoid dangerous climate change). It is a requirement for all new policies and programmes to be subject to an impact assessment which includes rural proofing.

Small Firms Loan Guarantee

Alan Duncan: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform which business sectors are excluded from the Small Firms Loan Guarantee; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 22 October 2008
	The small Firms Loan Guarantee is available to qualifying businesses in most business sectors. Sectoral restrictions apply principally in the transport, agriculture, coal and steel sectors. Restrictions generally arise from either the Industrial Development Act of 1982, which provides the statutory basis for SFLG, or from European State Aid rules designed to prevent public interventions from distorting the market. In April 2003, sectoral restrictions on retail, catering and other local service businesses were removed.

Small Firms Loan Guarantee

Alan Duncan: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many instances of default claims have been made under the Small Firms Loan Guarantee in each of the last five years.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 22 October 2008
	 The following table sets out the number of defaults made against the SFLG Guarantee over each of the last five full calendar years.
	
		
			   Number of SFLG demands 
			 2003 1,428 
			 2004 1,644 
			 2005 2,009 
			 2006 2,161 
			 2007 2,322